March was a good month for the US stocks market. Therefore, it becomes easy to find 5 best US Stocks to buy in April 2022. Major indices have regained a significant portion of their losses earlier this year.
Because there aren’t as many stocks down around their 52-week lows as in February, value investors may believe the buying opportunity has passed them by.
However, there are good possibilities for investors who want to continue devoting capital to the market in April.
Top 5 US Stocks to Buy in April 2022
Interest rate hikes, in particular, have caused several high-quality equities to drop in price. So here are five of the best stocks to invest in April:
1. Home Depot Inc.
Interest rates are rising significantly, and traders have begun to liquidate anything related to the housing market. That makes sense in some cases. Not so much in others.
Home Depot is an example of a corporation that has been unfairly punished because of its industry. Higher interest rates are likely to slow the new house market significantly.
However, the impact on the home restoration and improvement sector should be less dramatic. Meanwhile, the best-in-class distribution and supply chain networks at Home Depot should help it weather the current inflationary storm.
In terms of Home Depot’s vulnerability to short-term volatility in the housing market, traders may be missing the forest for the trees.
HD stock is presently trading for less than 20 times forecast profits, down 25.7 percent year to date as of March 30.
2. Goldman Sachs Group Inc
Goldman Sachs’ stock has declined from over $420 in November to around $336 as of March 30. Given how beneficial rising interest rates are to the banking industry, this is surprising.
On the other hand, traders are selling Goldman for a variety of reasons. For one thing, after a record-breaking year in 2021, analysts predict a slowdown in trade activity.
Another effect of rising interest rates is that it may slow activities in the investment banking sector, such as initial public offerings (IPOs). Regardless, the stock sells for less than 6 times trailing earnings and only 8.5 times forecast earnings.
Another aspect to consider is that Goldman Sachs only has $414 million in market exposure to Russia and $293 million in net credit exposure as of 2021.
But reports indicate that the firm will profit from that exposure by selling Russian debt to US hedge funds and other investors. The danger to Goldman Sachs from the Russia-Ukraine crisis is small for a bank that made more than $21 billion in net income last year.
3. Verizon Communications Inc
Verizon stock has re-entered the buy zone for income investors. Stocks fell from $55.11 in early March to $51.61 on March 30, continuing a downward trend last spring.
Verizon’s dividend yield, defined as the ratio of a year’s dividend distributions to a stock’s price, has re-entered the 5% range. As a result, both trailing and prospective earnings are valued less than ten times.
To be sure, the low price is understandable. However, Telecom is a mature and slow-moving business. Moreover, major players like Verizon owe a significant amount of long-term debt.
These businesses don’t deserve to be valued at such high multiples. However, this level may be too low, especially when things like the 5G investment cycle appear nearing fruition for the industry.
In addition to the dividend yield, a climb back up to just 12 or 13 times earnings would provide an appealing return from a safe-haven blue-chip stock.
4. Whirlpool Corporation
On a related topic, manufacturers of huge household appliances have a hard time selling their products. In addition, people are concerned that a considerable upgrade cycle will result in a significant decline in demand.
Many people have upgraded their refrigerators, furnishings, and other significant household things due to being stuck at home for the past two years.
As things return to more typical pre-pandemic conditions, perhaps that activity will decrease. But, on the other hand, Whirlpool’s stock has already fallen far enough to offset much of the current home improvement cycle’s gain.
Whirlpool stock is now trading at a discount to trailing and forward earnings of less than 7 times. That’s a low-cost way to taste longer-term trends like millennials starting their own families and purchasing appliances for their new digs.
5. Gilead Sciences Inc.
Gilead Sciences have felt the adverse effects of generating blockbuster pharmaceuticals. The business successfully commercialized a hepatitis C viral treatment.
This brought in tens of billions of dollars for Gilead. Still, revenues have dropped dramatically since much of the patient population has been cured.
Although Gilead’s HIV treatment business is solid, investors have been looking for anything else to drive higher top-line revenue growth.
Then, it looked like Gilead’s Veklury, or remdesivir as more generally known, was the COVID-19 treatment.
However, the market has ceased valuing COVID-19 therapy stocks at high levels, and Gilead is now trading near 52-week lows.
At the moment, shares are trading at less than 10 times the expected earnings. Morningstar analyst Damien Conover estimates the stock’s fair value to be $81 per share, implying a 26 percent discount as of March 30.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.