Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Mon, October 11, 2010
Fri, October 8, 2010 CMS Energy, Dominion Resources, Southern Company, CenturyTel and Priceline.com
CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: CMS Energy (NYSE: [ CMS ]), Dominion Resources (NYSE: [ D ]), Southern Company (NYSE: [ SO ]), CenturyTel (NYSE: [ CTL ]) and Priceline.com (Nasdaq: [ PCLN ]).
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Here are highlights from Thursdaya™s Analyst Blog:
37% of S&P at 52-Week Highs!
I chalk up the interest in this group to investors searching for yield. The utilities companies historically have paid out high dividends.
But this year, as investors have poured in, some of the utilities have seen their shares surge. So, while normally investors are in these stocks simply for the yield, they now are also getting a very nice return. Suddenly the utilities are a dream combination for investors.
One of the big winners in 2010 in the utility sector has been CMS Energy (NYSE: [ CMS ]) which is up 18.7% year to date and also pays out 3.2%.
A few of the other hot ones in the sector include Dominion Resources (NYSE: [ D ]) up 14.3% on the year and paying out 4.1% to shareholders, Southern Company (NYSE: [ SO ]) up 13.3% and paying out 4.8% and CenturyTel (NYSE: [ CTL ]) gaining 11.2% along with its juicy payout of 7.2%.
The Hottest Stocks For the Year Are From Different Industries
Unlike some stock rallies where certain industries seem to be the "hottest" group, i.e. the commodities stocks in 2007 and, of course, the technology stocks in the late 1990s, this rally has spread the love.
21 stocks in the S&P 500 are up 40% or more on the year and you can't really say that there is a clear pattern.
The largest industry group is Nonfood Retail with 6 companies out of the top 21 but those run the gambit from auto retailers to value discount retailers toonline travel giant Priceline.com (Nasdaq: [ PCLN ]).
The one thing they all do have in common is the consumer, so perhaps a concentration of top performing stocks in this sector means investors believe the consumer is back- at least in certain areas. And that's a positive sentiment for the economy, and the stock market, going forward.
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