S&P 500   4,288.05
DOW   33,507.50
QQQ   358.27
Will the Energy Sector Continue to Outshine the Market?
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Borrowers are reassessing their budgets as student loan payments resume after pandemic pause
In a good sign for China's struggling economy, factory activity grows for the first time in 6 months
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
MarketBeat Week in Review – 9/25 - 9/29
Cyprus hails Moody's two-notch credit rating upgrade bringing the country into investment grade
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh's people have left, Armenia's government says
Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee's hijab
S&P 500   4,288.05
DOW   33,507.50
QQQ   358.27
Will the Energy Sector Continue to Outshine the Market?
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Borrowers are reassessing their budgets as student loan payments resume after pandemic pause
In a good sign for China's struggling economy, factory activity grows for the first time in 6 months
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
MarketBeat Week in Review – 9/25 - 9/29
Cyprus hails Moody's two-notch credit rating upgrade bringing the country into investment grade
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh's people have left, Armenia's government says
Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee's hijab
S&P 500   4,288.05
DOW   33,507.50
QQQ   358.27
Will the Energy Sector Continue to Outshine the Market?
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Borrowers are reassessing their budgets as student loan payments resume after pandemic pause
In a good sign for China's struggling economy, factory activity grows for the first time in 6 months
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
MarketBeat Week in Review – 9/25 - 9/29
Cyprus hails Moody's two-notch credit rating upgrade bringing the country into investment grade
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh's people have left, Armenia's government says
Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee's hijab
S&P 500   4,288.05
DOW   33,507.50
QQQ   358.27
Will the Energy Sector Continue to Outshine the Market?
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Borrowers are reassessing their budgets as student loan payments resume after pandemic pause
In a good sign for China's struggling economy, factory activity grows for the first time in 6 months
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
MarketBeat Week in Review – 9/25 - 9/29
Cyprus hails Moody's two-notch credit rating upgrade bringing the country into investment grade
Better Than Oil Stocks? (Ad)
Almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh's people have left, Armenia's government says
Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee's hijab

Low Beta Stocks

Beta is the a calculation that measures the relative volatility of a stock in correlation to a particular standard. For U.S. stocks that standard is usually, but not always, the S&P 500. Beta is a form of regression analysis and it can be useful for investors regardless of their risk tolerance. Beta is considered one of the few data points that can be beneficial for practitioners of both fundamental analysis and technical analysis. This page lists stocks that have unusually low beta calculations, meaning there is little correlation between the price moves of these stocks and the S&P 500. Learn more about low beta stocks.

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CompanyCurrent PriceBetaPE RatioMarket CapVolumeAverage VolumeIndicator(s)
Primavera Capital Acquisition Co. stock logo
PV
Primavera Capital Acquisition
$4.05
-0.2%
0.0112.27$217.69 million7,459103,184Gap Up
L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp stock logo
LCAA
L Catterton Asia Acquisition
$10.67
0.01533.77$308.90 million1,06816,783Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited stock logo
OPA
Magnum Opus Acquisition
$10.69
0.0117.52$123.99 million4452Short Interest ↓
A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. stock logo
AMRK
A-Mark Precious Metals
$29.33
-1.4%
0.024.62$684.56 million205,330342,234Short Interest ↑
bleuacacia ltd stock logo
BLEU
bleuacacia
$10.50
0.0245.65$89.04 million1231News Coverage
Frontier Investment Corp stock logo
FICV
Frontier Investment
$10.45
0.0274.64$80.78 million062Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
Southern States Bancshares, Inc. stock logo
SSBK
Southern States Bancshares
$22.59
-0.6%
0.036.01$199.47 million6,53912,621Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
Positive News
Citizens Holding stock logo
CIZN
Citizens
$10.50
+1.9%
0.039.13$58.91 million11,0686,759Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
OraSure Technologies, Inc. stock logo
OSUR
OraSure Technologies
$5.93
-1.3%
0.0310.22$435.38 million436,635577,231News Coverage
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. stock logo
GO
Grocery Outlet
$28.85
-0.3%
0.0540.63$2.85 billion749,698962,391Short Interest ↑
Procaps Group S.A. stock logo
PROC
Procaps Group
$3.62
+1.2%
0.055.48$408.41 million9,4894,929Positive News
ENCP
Energem
$11.12
0.05101.10$37.81 million0388Positive News
TDCX Inc. stock logo
TDCX
TDCX
$5.91
-1.7%
0.0610.55$856.47 million41,489285,962Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Cullman Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
CULL
Cullman Bancorp
$10.50
0.0619.81$77.49 million1613,585Short Interest ↑
ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. stock logo
ZTO
ZTO Express (Cayman)
$24.17
+0.7%
0.0616.90$14.72 billion1.65 million3.05 millionAnalyst Upgrade
The Vita Coco Company, Inc. stock logo
COCO
Vita Coco
$26.04
-2.1%
0.0751.06$1.47 billion420,209711,226Short Interest ↑
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. stock logo
REFI
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance
$14.72
+0.1%
0.077.25$267.46 million59,079112,803News Coverage
Palomar Holdings, Inc. stock logo
PLMR
Palomar
$50.75
+1.2%
0.0822.36$1.26 billion390,604114,488Positive News
High Trading Volume
Fanhua Inc. stock logo
FANH
Fanhua
$7.21
-1.9%
0.0811.27$389.56 million32,98134,509Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
International Seaways, Inc. stock logo
INSW
International Seaways
$45.00
-0.2%
0.093.39$2.20 billion521,320442,863Analyst Report
Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
PBHC
Pathfinder Bancorp
$13.80
0.097.46$64.72 million103,574Short Interest ↑
Credit Suisse X-Links Gold Shares Covered Call ETN stock logo
GLDI
Credit Suisse X-Links Gold Shares Covered Call ETN
$133.96
-1.0%
0.10171.79$53.58 million2,4934,259Short Interest ↓
Positive News
CFSB Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
CFSB
CFSB Bancorp
$7.00
-0.2%
0.1030.44$46.41 million5051,298Short Interest ↑
Orange County Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
OBT
Orange County Bancorp
$43.17
-3.5%
0.118.32$243.91 million2,49914,697Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. stock logo
CHT
Chunghwa Telecom
$35.94
-0.2%
0.1122.75$27.88 billion111,915130,621Short Interest ↑
Sterling Check Corp. stock logo
STER
Sterling Check
$12.62
-6.4%
0.11631.00$1.22 billion308,892316,749News Coverage
Gap Down
Five Star Bancorp stock logo
FSBC
Five Star Bancorp
$20.06
-0.4%
0.126.78$346.24 million22,03418,036Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. stock logo
TR
Tootsie Roll Industries
$29.86
-0.8%
0.1226.24$2.09 billion84,391101,691Positive News
Catalyst Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
CLST
Catalyst Bancorp
$12.06
+5.9%
0.12120.60$59.22 million8,7224,827Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
HMN Financial, Inc. stock logo
HMNF
HMN Financial
$19.13
0.1311.46$85.89 million1,4463,473Short Interest ↑
Positive News
POINT Biopharma Global Inc. stock logo
PNT
POINT Biopharma Global
$6.67
-1.6%
0.137.67$705.49 million473,088552,212News Coverage
Positive News
Biogen Inc. stock logo
BIIB
Biogen
$257.01
-0.3%
0.1313.99$37.22 billion887,737763,916News Coverage
Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited stock logo
TNP
Tsakos Energy Navigation
$20.78
-1.3%
0.141.73$613.22 million256,558296,757Short Interest ↑
First Trust California Municipal High Income ETF stock logo
FCAL
First Trust California Municipal High Income ETF
$47.24
+0.2%
0.15124.32$144.08 million15,70616,356Short Interest ↓
Positive News
VinFast Auto Ltd. stock logo
VFS
VinFast Auto
$12.50
-0.5%
0.1569.45$264.13 million4.67 millionN/AGap Down
High Trading Volume
Artesian Resources Co. stock logo
ARTNA
Artesian Resources
$41.99
+0.3%
0.1524.41$431.24 million37,25445,267Short Interest ↑
International General Insurance Holdings Ltd. stock logo
IGIC
International General Insurance
$11.28
-1.7%
0.154.51$530.54 million46,71485,979Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
Positive News
Global Cord Blood Co. stock logo
CO
Global Cord Blood
$1.24
0.161.94$150.72 million4,508216,519Gap Down
Magyar Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
MGYR
Magyar Bancorp
$10.25
+5.7%
0.168.40$68.27 million1,2433,368News Coverage
Gap Up
The Duckhorn Portfolio, Inc. stock logo
NAPA
Duckhorn Portfolio
$10.26
-7.7%
0.1617.10$1.18 billion2.12 million688,290Analyst Report
News Coverage
High Trading Volume
Globus Maritime Limited stock logo
GLBS
Globus Maritime
$1.84
+10.8%
0.1714.15$37.87 million853,109315,197Analyst Report
Gap Up
High Trading Volume
InnSuites Hospitality Trust stock logo
IHT
InnSuites Hospitality Trust
$1.27
-4.5%
0.1721.17$11.44 million3,01137,027Analyst Report
Positive News
Ohio Valley Banc Corp. stock logo
OVBC
Ohio Valley Banc
$24.25
+0.8%
0.178.06$115.92 million4151,023Analyst Report
Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
Nordic American Tankers Limited stock logo
NAT
Nordic American Tankers
$4.12
+1.7%
0.177.23$860.26 million4.96 million2.59 millionShort Interest ↑
News Coverage
BioNTech SE stock logo
BNTX
BioNTech
$108.64
+6.5%
0.176.09$26.18 billion1.19 million482,701Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
High Trading Volume
Precision Optics Co., Inc. stock logo
POCI
Precision Optics
$5.95
-0.8%
0.19297.65$36.12 million16,5883,450News Coverage
Gap Down
High Trading Volume
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stock logo
REGN
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
$822.96
-1.4%
0.1921.75$89.34 billion409,771383,792Analyst Report
News Coverage
Positive News
Chemung Financial Co. stock logo
CHMG
Chemung Financial
$39.61
-0.1%
0.196.81$186.96 million3,7296,027Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
Hormel Foods Co. stock logo
HRL
Hormel Foods
$38.03
0.2023.62$20.78 billion2.00 million2.19 millionDividend Announcement
Short Interest ↑
Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc. stock logo
PPIH
Perma-Pipe International
$8.17
+3.9%
0.2013.85$65.85 million5,1567,166Short Interest ↑
Gap Down
BayFirst Financial Corp. stock logo
BAFN
BayFirst Financial
$11.23
-0.7%
0.2033.01$46.02 million8,3424,428Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
FTI Consulting, Inc. stock logo
FCN
FTI Consulting
$178.41
-2.0%
0.2127.16$6.07 billion171,383172,743Positive News
Citizens, Inc. stock logo
CIA
Citizens
$2.85
-4.7%
0.2115.00$141.42 million124,95534,669High Trading Volume
Jet.AI Inc. stock logo
JTAI
Jet.AI
$3.23
+7.1%
0.2146.07$28.12 million58,30969,316Upcoming Earnings
Positive News
Columbia Financial, Inc. stock logo
CLBK
Columbia Financial
$15.71
+0.8%
0.2126.18$1.66 billion104,493112,592Short Interest ↑
TD Holdings, Inc. stock logo
GLG
TD
$0.14
0.221.19$27.00 million2.27 million11.23 millionShort Interest ↑
News Coverage
Global Self Storage, Inc. stock logo
SELF
Global Self Storage
$4.86
+0.8%
0.2218.69$54.14 million14,68521,154Short Interest ↑
Lancaster Colony Co. stock logo
LANC
Lancaster Colony
$165.03
-0.1%
0.2340.95$4.54 billion98,044140,256Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Employers Holdings, Inc. stock logo
EIG
Employers
$39.95
-2.3%
0.238.72$1.04 billion132,379142,846Analyst Downgrade
News Coverage
Utah Medical Products, Inc. stock logo
UTMD
Utah Medical Products
$86.00
-2.4%
0.2318.14$312.18 million14,50513,744News Coverage
Positive News
Bowlero Corp. stock logo
BOWL
Bowlero
$9.62
+1.1%
0.2332.07$1.56 billion2.13 million2.52 millionShort Interest ↑
Happiness Development Group Limited stock logo
HAPP
Happiness Development Group
$3.21
0.236.69$22.33 million4,10714,340Gap Up
Mid-Southern Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
MSVB
Mid-Southern Bancorp
$9.91
-1.3%
0.2316.52$28.54 million6001,051
Virtu Financial, Inc. stock logo
VIRT
Virtu Financial
$17.27
0.2412.70$2.81 billion704,5791.04 millionPositive News
General Mills, Inc. stock logo
GIS
General Mills
$63.99
-0.2%
0.2415.61$37.20 billion5.33 million4.66 millionDividend Announcement
Short Interest ↓
Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd. stock logo
YMM
Full Truck Alliance
$7.04
+1.0%
0.2432.00$7.78 billion2.72 million3.73 millionGap Up
Frontline plc stock logo
FRO
Frontline
$18.78
+0.9%
0.245.06$4.18 billion4.33 million2.67 millionOptions Volume
News Coverage
Atlantic American Co. stock logo
AAME
Atlantic American
$1.93
+4.9%
0.25193.00$39.37 million1,3334,034Analyst Report
Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
Gap Up
Autohome Inc. stock logo
ATHM
Autohome
$30.35
-0.5%
0.2613.49$3.81 billion425,887340,375Analyst Downgrade
Short Interest ↑
United Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
UBCP
United Bancorp
$11.55
+0.3%
0.267.55$68.26 million1,4112,556Short Interest ↑
Superior Drilling Products, Inc. stock logo
SDPI
Superior Drilling Products
$0.80
-1.2%
0.268.89$24.32 million86,06465,635News Coverage
9F Inc. stock logo
JFU
9F
$2.90
+2.3%
0.263.16$34.18 million9293,544Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
Safety Insurance Group, Inc. stock logo
SAFT
Safety Insurance Group
$68.19
-0.5%
0.2728.41$1.01 billion66,93351,266Positive News
ECB Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
ECBK
ECB Bancorp
$10.98
0.2739.21$100.77 million15,0427,268Short Interest ↓
High Trading Volume
QuidelOrtho Co. stock logo
QDEL
QuidelOrtho
$73.04
+1.6%
0.27110.67$4.88 billion466,306534,419Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
FVCBankcorp, Inc. stock logo
FVCB
FVCBankcorp
$12.81
+9.3%
0.2714.90$228.04 million202,92728,735Short Interest ↓
Positive News
High Trading Volume
Nathan's Famous, Inc. stock logo
NATH
Nathan's Famous
$70.66
-1.6%
0.2814.54$288.29 million3,4746,057Analyst Downgrade
Stride, Inc. stock logo
LRN
Stride
$45.03
-0.8%
0.2815.21$1.94 billion282,928525,455
The Clorox Company stock logo
CLX
Clorox
$131.06
+1.9%
0.28110.14$16.23 billion2.80 million1.33 millionAnalyst Revision
High Trading Volume
Equity Commonwealth stock logo
EQC
Equity Commonwealth
$18.37
-0.3%
0.2932.23$2.02 billion833,805948,919Positive News
The Hershey Company stock logo
HSY
Hershey
$200.08
-0.9%
0.2923.02$40.91 billion1.41 million1.29 millionInsider Selling
ESSA Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
ESSA
ESSA Bancorp
$15.01
+0.5%
0.297.39$156.10 million14,03123,196Short Interest ↓
Coterra Energy Inc. stock logo
CTRA
Coterra Energy
$27.05
-1.7%
0.296.78$20.42 billion5.00 million5.42 millionAnalyst Report
Insider Selling
News Coverage
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. stock logo
JBSS
John B. Sanfilippo & Son
$98.80
-0.9%
0.3018.30$1.14 billion61,66783,737Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
Dollar General Co. stock logo
DG
Dollar General
$105.80
+0.4%
0.3010.84$23.22 billion3.73 million5.24 millionAnalyst Report
TDSA
Cabana Target Drawdown 5 ETF
$20.51
0.3014.52$16.40 million2,93111,623Dividend Cut
Ex-Dividend
SWK Holdings Co. stock logo
SWKH
SWK
$15.75
+0.1%
0.3011.25$197.51 million2,7727,398
Peoples Financial Services Corp. stock logo
PFIS
Peoples Financial Services
$40.10
-4.0%
0.308.00$284.31 million12,50921,234Short Interest ↓
Oconee Federal Financial Corp. stock logo
OFED
Oconee Federal Financial
$12.75
-1.2%
0.3020.56$71.52 million200461News Coverage
Gap Down
Virginia National Bankshares Co. stock logo
VABK
Virginia National Bankshares
$30.35
-5.0%
0.306.70$162.98 million7,5958,366Short Interest ↓
News Coverage
Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. stock logo
OCUP
Ocuphire Pharma
$3.35
-3.7%
0.313.99$70.38 million768,088382,120News Coverage
High Trading Volume
Old Point Financial Co. stock logo
OPOF
Old Point Financial
$18.27
+4.2%
0.319.04$92.08 million9,1834,082Analyst Report
News Coverage
High Trading Volume
Citizens Financial Services, Inc. stock logo
CZFS
Citizens Financial Services
$47.92
-0.8%
0.3110.52$225.22 million29,64721,415Short Interest ↑
News Coverage
Gap Up
C&F Financial Co. stock logo
CFFI
C&F Financial
$53.60
-2.0%
0.316.29$181.70 million4,7826,936News Coverage
Eli Lilly and Company stock logo
LLY
Eli Lilly and Company
$537.13
-1.3%
0.3274.71$509.89 billion2.97 million2.75 million
Gravity Co., Ltd. stock logo
GRVY
Gravity
$69.00
-0.6%
0.324.90$479.55 million11,97319,288Short Interest ↓
Optex Systems Holdings, Inc stock logo
OPXS
Optex Systems
$4.16
+0.6%
0.3216.62$28.09 million2,7309,398Short Interest ↓
Gap Up
ICC Holdings, Inc. stock logo
ICCH
ICC
$16.10
0.328.01$50.60 million413,144News Coverage
Spok Holdings, Inc. stock logo
SPOK
Spok
$14.27
-2.3%
0.328.20$284.97 million137,780229,918Short Interest ↓
Positive News
Greene County Bancorp, Inc. stock logo
GCBC
Greene County Bancorp
$24.05
+1.1%
0.3213.25$409.57 million11,27312,734Short Interest ↑
News Coverage

What Are Low Beta Stocks

Many retail investors assume that you can’t predict the stock market. And since you can’t predict it, they assume that investing in stocks carries a certain amount of risk. Well, as it turns out, there is a way to assess the risk of a particular security: it’s called beta. Low beta stocks are those securities that carry the lowest amount of risk.

How to Use Low Beta Stocks to Minimize Risk and Increase Returns

Beta is essentially a measure of a stock’s volatility. Risk level is one of the most important stats to analyze in terms of investing in stocks. A comparison of a stock’s risk factor to your own level of risk tolerance will help you know whether to buy, sell, or avoid a certain security. Beta is the number that will help you understand a stock’s level of risk and make those decisions.

What Is the Beta of a Stock?

In the simplest terms, beta is a tool that compares how volatile a stock is in comparison to the overall market. The stock market is the “control” and has a definitive benchmark beta of 1.0, while each individual security is the “variable,” with a beta that varies in terms of how much the stock moves around.

A stock that is more volatile than the market has a beta of more than 1.0, while a stock that is less volatile than the market has a beta of less than 1.0. If you’re a short-term trader riding the market waves and looking at stock market gainers, stock beta can let you know which securities might be the riskiest—then you can decide whether or not to get involved.

As you can see from this explanation, risky stocks are not the only ones that carry risk. Every one of the individual stocks can be viewed as a risky stock to some degree, even if the degree is negligible. Even in bull markets, when it seems like the sky’s the limit forever, it’s impossible for a stock to mirror the benchmark.

How to Calculate Beta

The beta of a stock is calculated using regression analysis. In short, regression analysis is all about comparing one stable variable with other changing variables. The formula for calculating a stock’s beta is simple in theory—beta is found by dividing covariance by variance.

Covariance represents how similar or dissimilar two numbers are in their movements—in this case, a stock is being compared to the market. Positive numbers indicate that their movement is similar. Negative numbers indicate that their movements are different.

Variance represents how much the “control” variable bounces around in comparison to its mean—its normal state. To keep it short and sweet, a stock’s beta is calculated with the intention of assessing how similar or divergent a stock’s movement is in comparison to the market—and thereby determining its volatility. Beta, in turn, can be worked into a complex equation to create a Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). This equation helps calculate the expected return of an asset, using its risk-free rate as a starting point (a hypothetical rate of return involving no risk).

Beyond beta, other formulas, such as the Sharpe Ratio—which uses standard deviation—can help investors determine how much additional yield they’ll get for every increase per unit of risk. Then there is tracking error, which helps investors understand how much performance has deviated from the intended benchmark.

As you can see, beta is the gateway stat for an in-depth, computational way of growing equity through leveraging statistical opportunities in the stock market. 

Low Beta Strategy

Low Beta Strategy focuses on investing in securities that have a low beta. These are stocks issued by companies in a sector like consumer goods, food, and utilities. This type of asset tends to avoid wild fluctuations because its line of business is both necessary and consistent. For example, utility companies exert a relative monopoly over their local region and face little competition in their sector.

Low Beta stocks are safer in terms of price when the market is down—they match the market, and don’t wildly plummet while the market is coasting. However, when the market is up, the same logic applies: these stocks gain less than some of their more volatile counterparts.

Some investment strategies actually involving investing in both low and high beta stocks simultaneously. Stocks with a higher beta—which can experience greater price fluctuations—can present opportunities for big gains through short-term trading of these volatility stocks. To offset potential losses, the investor will also buy into stocks with a lower beta and hold onto them for longer periods of time. This statistical arbitrage strategy is referred to as the bet against beta.

How to Reduce Risk in Your Portfolio

Unfortunately, beta is not a catchall indicator that can prevent losing your earnings to risky investments. While beta is a mathematical measure of how volatile a stock is in comparison to the market, it says nothing about other factors, like how a company operates, its debt, or current events that can affect its operations—such as its potential in regard to future earnings.

For example, a company in a stable industry like utilities can be poorly run, on the brink of bankruptcy, and facing a cataclysmic shutdown due to a recent energy-related event—but because it’s historically moved in close tandem with the overall market, it’s beta is low. Doesn’t sound like a good investment, does it?

One way to reduce risk in your portfolio is to diversify your investments. In terms of stocks, this can mean diversifying your portfolio through a range of companies and industries. However, if you want to truly minimize risk, the majority of your portfolio should be invested in stable, established, non-speculative securities, and preferably ones that pay good dividends or offer opportunities for growth.

One of the easiest ways to avoid risk is to invest in mutual funds or ETFs. This type of fund pools money from a number of investors. With a larger amount of money to play with, mutual fund managers can spread it out over a broader range of securities than each individual investor would be able to buy on their own. You can also diversify risk by investing in different types of asset classes. Between stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, and business ownership, there are a number of vehicles for producing cash flow. A capital asset like a paid-off rental property can even produce free cash flow, unencumbered by expenses (this is every investor’s golden egg).

If your money is diversified, when one of your investments takes a hit, you won’t have to lose all your eggs—you’ve placed them in different baskets. While much ink has been spilled about which type of asset can consistently outperform the others in terms of growth, everyone can agree that at different times one asset outperforms the others; they all carry a degree of historical volatility (even real estate). 

If you do want to pick out which stock comprises your portfolio, another strategy for reducing risk is to invest in established, stable companies—but these companies are stable beyond their beta score. Large blue-chip companies, like those you’ll find in Warren Buffet’s portfolio, have been around for decades. They are well run, well-financed, and have low amounts of debt. Beta says nothing about the degree of competence with which a company is run, although competently-run, long-standing companies usually do have a lower beta score.

Even if you’re trying to avoid too much risk, most financiers would agree that it’s okay to take a small percentage of your portfolio (financial experts such as Benjamin Graham have suggested no more than 5%) and look at cheap stocks to buy. These stocks might be riskier, but they can also provide good returns if they work out. If they don’t, your losses will be marginal.

Is It Smart to Invest in Low Beta Stocks?

While beta is used to analyze risk, it does have some shortcomings. As mentioned, beta is a comparative statistic that says nothing about how a company is run. It’s been described by analysts as a sort of rearview mirror, reflecting what’s behind, but not necessarily what’s ahead (which, by contrast, is very impacted by the degree of managerial competence and current events).

That said, beta can be a good tool for short-game investors looking to minimize risk. For long-term investors, it’s not necessarily that useful.

Moreover, beta is a number that says nothing about a stock’s price movement in terms of whether it’s going up or down. All beta tells you is a stock’s volatility relative to the market. This is especially problematic in light of the fact that investors, especially short-term traders, make their moves based on stock prices. However, in conjunction with other stats that give a more complete picture of a stock and its performance, beta can be a useful tool for assessing a security’s level of risk—for short term investors. Long-term investors will want to get a more complete picture of a company, how it’s run, and its level of debt before making an investment.

Investors should not just look at a stock’s beta, but also examine their own level of risk tolerance. Younger investors building a retirement portfolio can afford to take on more risks. After all, they have decades of investment ahead of them. Older investors nearing retirement want to avoid risk and do what they can to stabilize their portfolio as much as possible since it will become a source of income.

There are many strategies for investing in stocks, and they all depend on the investor's preferred mode of gain. A dividend investing strategy can turn rivulets of pennies into a mighty dividend stream, which is great for investors who want passive income. Day trading is great for investors who are skilled enough to leverage swings in the most volatile stocks at the drop of a hat. Other investors might find themselves somewhere between the long game and the short game, figuring out the best growth stocks to scoop up and sell at a profit weeks or months later.

Institutional investors may make a beta calculation as part of their equity and growth strategy, but it’s not the only tool they leverage for assessing how to respond to systematic risk. They do an in-depth micro and macro analysis of stats like market capitalization and general market volatility. Investors also perform fundamental and financial analysis of a company to consider future growth and dividend yield.

Low Beta Stocks

Beta tells you how risky a stock is by comparing its activity to that of the market. It’s important to combine financial signifiers like beta and even professional analyst ratings with fundamental analysis of a company. Alternatively, you can turn over investment decisions to a money manager.

Assessing the balance between risk and reward as it relates to financial gain is the bread and butter of short-term trading. But if short-term trading is not for you, you may consider other strategies such as searching for dividend-paying stocks, the snowballing equity of which can be rolled back into more dividend stocks. Retail investors can also piggyback invest by mimicking the portfolio of established investors with a track record of success. These strategies can be a much easier way for the average investor to increase their stock market earnings than attempting to leverage stock market beta. However, if you are looking to leverage short positions through day trading or similarly short-term asset growth, beta can be a useful tool for determining the risk of a particular security.


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