3 Top Conservative Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Returns

Advertisement

In this kind of market, it’s important to have stocks that will endure. Hot stories aren’t going to carry the growing volatility that we’ll see unfolding throughout 2015.

stocks to buyThat’s not to say that there isn’t room for a few swings at the fences along the way, but before you take those shots, it’s smart to put a few men on base first.

That’s what my conservative picks — New York Mortgage Trust Inc (NASDAQ:NYMT), AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) — are about.

As my current top three picks, each one of these stocks to buy comes from a different sector; NYMT is pure growth play, one a solid total return candidate and the other an income stock with a mega-dividend.

If you’re looking for one of those for your foundation stocks, grab it now. If you’re interested in building out your foundation picks, diversify and add them all.

These stocks to buy are all doing well in 2015. Despite the early choppiness in the overall market, these stocks have weathered it well.

Let’s take a look at why NYMT, AFSI and EA are all such worthy conservative stocks to buy:

New York Mortgage Trust Inc (NASDAQ:NYMT)

New York Mortgage TrustYou many not consider yourself an income investor, but what if I told you I have found a solid stock that is kicking off a 13.5% dividend yield right now? That’s a 13.5% return if the stock does nothing. Pretty tempting right?

That’s the value proposition New York Mortgage Trust Inc (NASDAQ:NYMT) offers. New York Mortgage Trust is structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT), which means it has to distribute 90% of its profits back to shareholders.

NYMT owns some of markets more leveraged mortgage-backed securities. Specifically, its commercial multi-family residential business and its distressed residential loans business make up about two-thirds of NYMT assets.

There are huge margins here, and as long as the U.S. economy continues to chug along, NYMT will be kicking off a significant double digit dividend. NYMT stock hasn’t really gone anywhere in the past year. So, New York Mortgage Trust is reasonably priced here. The risk is if the U.S. economy falls back into recession or the global economy crashes.

The opportunity is worth the risk.

AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI)

amtrust-afsi-stock-185AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI) is an insurance company and operates four divisions: small commercial business (basically workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses), specialty risk and extended warranty (the extended service warranties that you’re offered when you buy appliances and gadgets), specialty program and personal lines reinsurance (commercial property/auto liability insurance).

The play here is a bet on the expansion of the U.S. recovery. As the economy grows, so will small businesses. Plus, small businesses will grow faster than larger businesses. So, AFSI will be a direct and leveraged beneficiary.

Assuming a growing economy, that also means growing spending, which will directly benefit AFSI’s extended warranty division. What’s more, since insurance companies usually manage large portfolios with the cash they take in for premiums, a rising stock market is also a boon to all insurers, including AFSI.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

Electronic Arts ERTSElectronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) is the king of the video game.

EA makes the world’s most popular titles: Battlefield, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and all the most popular football, basketball, soccer and hockey games as well.

Electronic Arts has been the leader and juggernaut for years in the video game industry.

While that’s an admirable position, EA continues to spawn a legion of competitors itching to take Electronic Arts down and become gaming’s alpha-dog developer.

The gaming community has a love/hate relationship with EA because it actually has a business motive in releasing new versions of games every year that aren’t significantly different the version the previous year.

Investors have more of the love and less of the hate for Electronic Arts as EA stock is up 81% in the past year.

The fact is that EA is still the top dog, and as long as Electronic Arts is maintaining and expanding on its games while keeping revenue rolling in, there is plenty of headroom left for EA stock.

Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of five investing newsletters: Blue Chip GrowthEmerging GrowthUltimate GrowthFamily Trust and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Blue Chip Growth, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/03/conservative-stocks-to-buy-new-york-mortgage-trust-nymt-amtrust-afsi-electronic-arts-ea/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC