Tariff Woes? Play Safe With 4 Low-Beta Stocks: ANIP, EXE, AVA & CTGO

President Donald Trump’s recently imposed tariff has rattled the equity market. The action will weigh on the already slowing domestic economy as the tariff will increase prices of both domestic and imported goods, thereby fueling uncertainty. 

In this context, creating a curated portfolio of low-beta stocks is a prudent strategy. This provides a safeguard against the uncertain market, equipping investors to navigate volatility with greater resilience and foresight.

Hence, stocks like ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ANIP, Expand Energy Corporation EXE, Avista Corp AVA and Contango ORE, Inc. CTGO are worth betting on.

What Does Beta of a Stock Measure?

Beta measures the volatility or risk of a particular asset compared to the market. In other words, beta measures the extent of a security’s price movement relative to the market. In this article, we are considering the S&P 500 as the market.

If a stock has a beta of 1, then the price of the stock will move with the market. So, the stock is more volatile than the market if its beta is more than 1. In the same way, the stock is not as volatile as the market if its beta is less than 1.

For example, if the market offers a return of 20%, a stock with a beta of 3 will return 60%, which is overwhelming. Similarly, when the market slips 20%, the stock will sink 60%, which is devastating.

Screening Criteria Using Research Wizard:

We have taken a beta between 0 and 0.6 as our prime criterion for screening stocks that are less volatile than the market. However, this should not be the only factor to be considered while selecting a winning strategy. We need to take into account other parameters that can add value to the portfolio.

Percentage Change in Price in the Last 4 Weeks Greater Than Zero: This ensures that the stocks saw positive price movement over the last month.

Average 20-Day Volume Greater Than 50,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stocks are easily tradable.

Price Greater Than or Equal to $5: They must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Zacks Rank Equal to 1: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks indicate that they will significantly outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Here are four of the eight stocks that qualified for the screening:

ANI Pharmaceuticals

ANI Pharmaceuticals is a well-established, diversified biopharmaceutical company that is highly committed to offering premium quality medicines that are affordable. Investors applauded ANIP for its recent launch of Nitazoxanide Tablets, 500 mg. ANIP is banking on its Generics business, thanks to the launches of new products. For 2025, the stock has seen upward revisions to earnings estimates over the past 30 days.

Expand Energy

As a leading producer of natural gas, Expand Energy has been banking on exploding demand for clean energy across the world. EXE is on track to meet its $500 million synergy target this year, thanks to a strong focus on integration and effectively carrying out its plans and strategies. Expand Energy, which is driving to lower its breakeven costs, has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2025 and 2026 over the past seven days.

Avista

In the United States, Avista is among the leading utilities responsible for very low carbon emissions. To support its growing and large customer base, AVA has set up a solid capital investment program. From the estimated $525 million capital investment in 2025, AVA is planning to grow its investment to $650 million in 2029, securing a rate base growth of 5% to 6%. Notably, over the past 30 days, the company has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2025.

Contango

Contango, a gold explorer, is experiencing an increase in net operating cash flows thanks to the commencement of production at Manh Chox`x`h. The company boasted that through the remaining life of the Manh Choh, it will be able to generate higher cash flows, as roughly 30% of the net gold production from the mine for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 will be linked to spot gold prices.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your two-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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