Low-Beta Stocks to Own as We Head Into 2026: MNST, TDC, NGS & COCO

Investors are closely monitoring the Federal Reserve, as on Tuesday afternoon, the Fed will release notes from its December meeting. This is likely to give clues about how the central bank is thinking about interest rates and the economy as we head into 2026.

For now, the stock market will likely remain volatile, and hence one can bet on low-beta stocks like Monster Beverage Corporation MNST, Teradata TDC, Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. NGS and The Vita Coco Company, Inc. COCO.

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 21 stocks that qualified for the screening:

Teradata

Teradata is well-known for helping businesses enhance decision-making and efficiency by utilizing large amounts of data to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Thus, TDC is assisting businesses so that, without disrupting their current activities, companies can make use of the latest AI tools to generate long-term business value that will be translated to shareholder wealth in the long term.

Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage is a leading developer and marketer of energy drinks. MNST believes that it is strategically placed to capitalize on the growing energy drinks business across the globe. The growing consumer demand for Monster Beverage’s brands is likely to continue being reflected in healthy margins going forward.

Natural Gas Services

The United States is sending more natural gas overseas as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). To do this, gas needs to travel through pipelines to coastal export terminals. This creates higher demand for Natural Gas Services’ compression equipment to push the gas through the pipelines. So, as more LNG is exported and more pipelines are built, companies like NGS benefit by renting out more of their compression machines.

The Vita Coco Company

COCO is a major producer of healthy and natural drinks. In the United States, The Vita Coco Company is known for its leading coconut water brand. In this business category, COCO is thriving since demand for coconut water is booming across every region, highlighting a strong business outlook.

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.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research