Buy 4 Low-Beta Stocks NGS, LRN, ATR & PM Despite Court Tariff Ruling

A fresh wave of market uncertainty has been triggered by the U.S. trade court's ruling that President Donald Trump's global tariffs are illegal. Additionally, the Federal Reserve’s wait-and-see stance means the future direction of interest rates is uncertain.

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 Natural Gas Services Group Inc NGS, Stride Inc. LRN, AptarGroup Inc. ATR and Philip Morris International Inc. PM 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 23 stocks that qualified for the screening:

Natural Gas Services

The United States is sending more liquefied natural gas (LNG) overseas. To do this, gas needs to travel through pipelines to coastal export terminals. This creates a 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.

AptarGroup

AptarGroup is well-positioned for long-term growth thanks to big-picture trends shaping the healthcare industry. As more medical care moves away from hospitals to home settings, and as generic and over-the-counter medicines become more popular, AptarGroup’s drug delivery systems are seeing rising demand.

Stride

Stride maintains a stable business model by revolutionizing the educational experiences of individuals through the utilization of innovative, high-quality and technology-enabled educational solutions. LRN is well-positioned for long-term success, backed by increasing demand for school choice, innovative offerings, such as nationwide K–12 tutoring, and a focused growth strategy.

Philip Morris

From a traditional cigarette company, Philip Morris is gradually transforming into a smoke-free player as represented by IQOS heated tobacco and ZYN nicotine pouches, which are gradually becoming the company’s major focus area. Philip Morris is also strongly focused on rewarding shareholders and cost-cutting initiatives.

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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