Grab These Stocks Before 2023 Closes, Say Analysts

Ten S&P 500 stocks have the greatest proportion of analysts' "buy" ratings within the index: NiSource, Lamb Weston, and Amazon.com, among others. Even the analysts who monitor these stocks have unanimously recommended buying two of these stocks.

These are really uncommon stocks given that degree of support; 11,319 analyst ratings exist for S&P 500 equities. According to John Butters of FactSet, just 54.9% of those are purchase suggestions. 5% of the ratings are actually "sells."

Analysts' Top Picks in S&P 500: NiSource, Lamb Weston, and Amazon.com

Of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, analysts are most optimistic about the energy and communication services industries. However, the specific stocks with the largest percentage of buy ratings don't fully represent that.

In particular, buy ratings account for 64% of energy companies and 62% of communication services stocks. Nevertheless, just one firm in the energy sector and none in the communication services sector are among the ten equities with the highest proportion of buy ratings.

Analysts' top pick for energy-related equipment provider is Schlumberger (SLB). A noteworthy 96% of ratings for the stock are buys, and 4% are holds.

According to FactSet, not a single analyst believes the stock is a sell. Furthermore, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, experts predict that this stock will trade for 32% higher in a year than it does today.

That is somewhat similar to the 32.5% growth they anticipate from Nvidia (NVDA), the AI wonder. Remarkably, Nvidia's stock analyst ratings are just 94% "buy," which is little less than Schlumberger's.

All analysts that have rated NiSource's stock give it a buy recommendation. The corporation, which has its headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana, supplies electricity and natural gas to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio.

The 3.7% yield on the stock may contribute to its allure, notwithstanding the current disfavor for dividends among investors. The stock has down 3.6% this year, suffering along with many other dividend payers. However, reliability is important in this unpredictable period of time about interest rates. Up to at least 2027, the company's earnings per share are expected to increase annually.

The second S&P 500 stock that has received universal endorsement is frozen potato king Lamb Weston. With a 16.7% gain so far this year, the stock has performed mediocrely, excluding the 1.1% dividend yield.

Once more, it's a tale of steady progress. Similar to NiSource, Lamb Weston is anticipated to have annual growth in earnings per share starting in 2023 and continuing through at least 2028. And by a respectable margin. Analysts predict a 26% increase in profits in 2023 alone. Moreover, a compound average annual growth of 11.8% is projected for profits per share during the following five years.