The old saying goes, “Buy when there’s blood in the streets.”
Well, the blood is certainly pooling up.
But don’t just wildly buy any and all stocks. Remember, there’s also the old saying, “don’t try to catch a falling knife.”
How do you reconcile the two?
You buy the stocks below that are A or B-rated by my Portfolio Grader tool I use to find Growth Investor plays. These are stocks that are on growth tracks that will endure long after this current mess is sorted out.
They’re stocks that will continue to grow because they’re either top-quality stocks in growth-focused sectors or they’re great hedges to have if the market bounces around.
Check out these seven fast-growing stocks to buy today. They’re good buys now — don’t try to time a bottom — and they will deliver profits for years to come.
Growth Stocks to Buy: PennyMac Financial Services (PFSI)
PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) is a mortgage company that originates and services mortgage loans.
You may not have heard the name, but it’s growing in this solid U.S. housing market. Currently it has $368 billion in loans serviced and has more than 1.7 million U.S. customers.
It was a product of the financial crisis in 2008, looking for ways to make the mortgage process more transparent and accessible. And to this day, one of its business units buys loans from banks and lenders and restructures the deals to keep homeowners in their homes.
This current low-growth, low-interest rate environment is ideal for homebuyers. And the demographics suggest that members of Generation X are at the inflection point of becoming homeowners now that they’ve paid off student loans, entered careers and are starting families.
PFSI stock is up 51% in the past 12 months, yet it trades at a price-earnings ratio just a hair below 8. And it shares a 1.4% dividend. It was also my choice for the InvestorPlace.com Best Stocks of 2020 contest, where, thanks to its comparative strength in the February market decline, it has moved to the front of the pack.
Kinsale Capital (KNSL)
Kinsale Capital (NASDAQ:KNSL) is an insurance company that specializes in insuring property that doesn’t easily fit into a specific category. This is called the excess and surplus insurance business.
Think of oil refineries or tank farms. Or cargo ships. Or mobile home parks. It’s pretty much anything that doesn’t slot in to a traditional insurance model and has to be evaluated on its own terms.
It operates in all 50 states and territories and gets an “A” from insurance rating company AM Best.
While business is brisk, insurance companies also plow a lot of their cash into conservative, cash-like investments like U.S. Treasury bonds. This keeps the money accessible in case a claim needs to paid, but earning interest.
Those Treasury stockpiles are making good money right now, on top of its growing business. The combination of growth and income is not only something I like to see within a business — a stock that has those qualities, along with strong fundamentals — it’s a must-have for my Growth Investor strategy.
The stock is up 91% in the past year and 25% year to date.
SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG)
SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) is one of the leading companies in solar inverter technologies. It’s been around since 2006 and is based in Israel.
Inverters are where the rubber hits the road in solar energy generation. The electricity that comes off the panels is direct current (DC). But to use it for the grid or most other purposes, the current needs to be alternating current (AC). An inverter changes the solar DC to AC for use in the home, building or grid.
There are only a handful of companies that have specialized in making inverters that have survived the early years of renewable energy’s wild markets.
SEDG is now a leader in string inverters. And that’s a very big market, especially for large solar farms, where the company has been focusing its business.
From its base, it has access to both the European and U.S. markets, and to a lesser extent Asia. But those two primary markets are where the growth is right now in this sector.
Renewable energy is very big on Wall Street, and SEDG just reported another strong quarter, beating expectations. The stock is up 205% in the past year, 33% year to date, yet trades at a P/E of 43.
Enphase Energy (ENPH)
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) is another inverter company that is doing very well in this trend toward renewable energy resources.
The difference between SEDG and ENPH is the types of inverters that they make and what markets they are best suited for.
ENPH uses microinverters, which sit on each solar panels and the system runs in parallel. String inverters put solar arrays in a series circuit and you have one central inverter controlling the string.
There are advantages to each system, but suffice it to say, both are in great demand. ENPH also is working with a battery storage company to manage some of the electricity generated for peak usage, nighttime or cloudy days.
The stock is up a whopping 450% in the past 12 months and 92% year to date. And I’ve got even more compelling tech plays for you now.
Franco-Nevada (FNV)
Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) is an interesting gold company. Gold mining companies have a leveraged relationship to the Midas metal. When times are good, miners do even better. When gold prices drop, miners tank.
Miners have a serious volatility risk in a currently volatile sector.
But holding physical gold also has its drawbacks. First, storing gold means it’s not free to hold it. There’s a cost to owning it, which eats into your returns.
FNV worries about neither option. It operates more like a gold real estate investment trust (REIT). It makes its money leasing land to gold mining operations and then collecting rent and a cut of the profits from the gold mined off the land.
You get the best of both worlds. When times are good, demand rises for its properties and more gold is mined. When times are tough, FNV is still collecting rent off the properties.
It’s a unique middle ground in the precious metals sector. The stock is up 45% in the past year and almost 5% year to date. It also has a 0.9% dividend.
Nvidia (NVDA)
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leader in high-end graphics processing units (GPUs). These are the chipsets that turn data into images on computers, smartphones and the like.
NVDA is also a major player in the internet of things, where it has been a major player in smart and self-driving car technologies. Its visualization hardware also is very important in cloud computing and Big Data analysis.
Simply put, NVDA is in all the top growth sectors for the next decade. As such, it’s one of my favorite Growth Investor recommendations now.
What’s more, NVDA stock slid off a cliff in mid-2018, losing almost a third of its value into 2019. But it’s back now. The stock is up 75% in the past year and its future is once again bright.
This pullback may weigh on tech stocks a bit more than other shares but this one is a good choice for buying the dip.
Coca-Cola (KO)
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) has been around since 1886. It’s more than a survivor. It has one of the top brands in the world at this point. Its market capitalization is $235 billion and it just sells non-alcoholic beverages — more than 500 brands.
It’s also a Dividend King — that’s a company that has raised its dividend every year for at least 50 years. For KO it has been 57 years. Granted, it’s dividend is around 3%, but that’s a pretty reliable payout.
The stock had some troubles a few years back as it transitioned from its sugary, soda-centered market to healthier and trendier options, like flavored waters and energy drinks.
But it has turned that corner now, and it is continuing its dominance around the globe.
The stock is up 21% in the past year. It’s not going to be a wild growth stock but it will be solidly dependable in good times and bad.
That said, if you are looking for growth — and, in these times of yields that barely keep up with inflation, who isn’t? — then a great place to start is the huge tech innovation gearing up now.
The 5G Buildout Is an Incredible Opportunity for Investors Right Now
Within two years, most cell phones will be 5G enabled and be able to wirelessly handle television streaming. With 5G, we’ll have cable modem speeds on any device; no need to plug in. That’s a big deal for rural areas … the very same areas that are also key to President Donald Trump’s reelection. So, by pushing 5G over the goal line, Trump will deliver a big win for his base — and strike a blow against Chinese rivals like Huawei Technologies.
But, in the big picture, 5G is about much more than trade wars and faster downloads. Because 5G is 100 times faster than 4G, it’ll allow your internet devices to work in real time. That advancement is a game changer for tech companies.
With the 5G infrastructure market set to grow at an annual rate of 67% over the next 10 years, the entire market will go from $780 million to nearly $48 billion. This buildout is where I see opportunity with 5G stocks now.
Cable companies can do their best to fight back with fiber optics … but they can’t compete with the convenience of a smartphone, once it’s got ultra-fast 5G. That’s how my 5G infrastructure play will capture more market share from the broadband cable companies.
The stock I’m targeting is enjoying an influx of big money on Wall Street, and it has strong fundamentals, too — making it an A-rated “Strong Buy” in my Portfolio Grader system.
When you do, you’ll see how to claim a free copy of my new investment report, The Netflix of 5G, which has full details on this company — and what makes it such a great buy now.
Louis Navellier had an unconventional start, as a grad student who accidentally built a market-beating stock system — with returns rivaling even Warren Buffett. In his latest feat, Louis discovered the “Master Key” to profiting from the biggest tech revolution of this (or any) generation. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.
