Down Market, Good Stocks, Southern Company, PepsiCo, Caterpillar

Down Market, Good Stocks, Southern Company, PepsiCo, Caterpillar

Key Points

  • Should investors be looking to utilities for a return beyond dividend yield?
  • How Pepsi’s focus on Gatorade and its distribution deal with Celsius is helping the company expand its presence.
  • Caterpillar is a large earnings-per-share grower, based on increased infrastructure spending and the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • 5 stocks we like better than Caterpillar

Kate’s guest on The MarketBeat Podcast this week is Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. Brian brings three large-cap ideas today and discusses why one utility may have potential beyond the traditional role of a dividend payer. He also discusses why a very familiar beverage and packaged food company is growing beyond its namesake product by focusing on the youth market, and why a maker of heavy machinery appears set for big gains.

 Stick around until the end, because Brian shares how to access Zacks research to get more ideas.

-Why Brian’s utility pick, Southern Company, has earnings durability that causes him to think it can withstand the higher cost of capital as interest rates rise

-The company has strong earnings growth, relative to the S&P 500 and may be able to pass along higher costs to its customers

-Brian attributes the company’s recent blowout quarterly report to investments that the company has made over the years

-Should investors be looking to utilities for a return beyond dividend yield?

-Does a stock like Southern Company make sense in a roaring bull market?

-Why Southern Company happens to be in a good geographical area that’s helping to grow market share and higher revenue lately

-Brian’s second stock, PepsiCo, also has earnings durability

-How the company’s growth through acquisition has allowed it to have pricing power, by focusing on strong brand names

-How Pepsi’s focus on Gatorade and its distribution deal with Celsius is helping the company expand its presence and loyalty in the youth market

-The company has been making investments outside the carbonated beverage market, which is a declining portion of its brand portfolio

-Why Brian sees Pepsi’s distribution strategy as an edge in the supply chain where other manufacturers have fallen short

-Brian’s third stock is an old-school industrial, Caterpillar, which has also navigated supply chains well

-Why Brian sees Caterpillar as large earnings per share grower, based on increased infrastructure spending and the Inflation Reduction Act.

-Why he sees this stock as attractive, although it’s not one he expects to behave like a red-hot growth stock

-Why Brian thinks infrastructure spending will finally ramp up and benefit companies like Caterpillar? 


Stocks mentioned in this episode

 Southern Company (SO)

PepsiCo (PEP)

Caterpillar (CAT)

How to learn more about Zacks Investment Management and find the company’s blogs and research reports:

www.zacksim.com

Let’s all become smarter investors together. Subscribe to the MarketBeat Podcast today.

Apple Podcasts - Spotify - iHeart - Overcast - Amazon - YouTube

Should you invest $1,000 in Caterpillar right now?

Before you consider Caterpillar, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Caterpillar wasn't on the list.

While Caterpillar currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

20 Stocks to Sell Now Cover

MarketBeat has just released its list of 20 stocks that Wall Street analysts hate. These companies may appear to have good fundamentals, but top analysts smell something seriously rotten. Are any of these companies lurking around your portfolio? Find out by clicking the link below.

Get This Free Report

Companies Mentioned in This Article

CompanyMarketRank™Current PricePrice ChangeDividend YieldP/E RatioConsensus RatingConsensus Price Target
Caterpillar (CAT)
4.4545 of 5 stars
$343.38+1.6%1.51%15.50Hold$316.88
PepsiCo (PEP)
4.368 of 5 stars
$175.58-0.6%2.88%26.40Moderate Buy$187.42
Southern (SO)
4.658 of 5 stars
$73.21-1.6%3.82%20.17Moderate Buy$74.36
Compare These Stocks  Add These Stocks to My Watchlist 


Featured Articles and Offers

7 Dividend Stocks with Double-Digit Growth Rates

7 Dividend Stocks with Double-Digit Growth Rates

Discover top dividend stocks defying myths with both secure dividends & double-digit growth. Explore our list of 7 blue-chips setting 2024 standards.

Search Headlines: