Citywire Elite Companies is on the hunt for highly rated Elite Companies that are hitting new highs and lows over the past 52 weeks.
The search has cast a particularly bright light on the popular Indian holdings that are exposed to the country’s fast-growing economy and heavily backed by the world’s best portfolio managers.
Our recent Asia Top 10 shows that Indian companies dominate the preferred stock picks of elite portfolio managers in the region.
Meanwhile, when measured by the number of top AAA-rated companies, India’s record of 43, as revealed in our October Top-Rated Companies Report, places it only behind the huge number of AAA-rating plays that the US boasts: 357.
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Tables of all the top-rated Elite companies hitting new highs and lows can be found at the end of this article, ranked by popularity with the world’s top investors.
Growth king
The Indian economy is vibrant.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for 2023 for the world’s most populous country from 6.1% to 6.3%. The IMF expects similar growth for 2024.
The forecasts are in line with expectations of global growth of 3.0% this year and 2.9% next year. These global forecasts are well below the historical average of 3.8% between 2000 and 2019. As such, there are clear appeals for investors when looking for growth hotspots with equity markets that have significant depth, such as India.
One of the companies on our list of top-rated stocks hitting new highs is the company that greases the wheels of the Indian stock markets: the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company trades as BSE (IN:BSE) and has an AA Elite Companies rating.
Stock and derivatives trading not only benefits India’s overall economic health, but is also becoming extremely popular among young Indians. Unfortunately, but also predictably, the results are often poor.
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Two other Indian financial players are on our list of stocks making new highs. These are AAA-rated retail bank IndusInd (IN:532187) and majority state-owned Power Finance (IN:532810). The rapid growth of the Indian economy is leading to rapid growth in energy demand, which supports Power Finance’s business.
India aims to meet much of this new energy demand through renewables, but energy storage and infrastructure issues mean the country is expected to remain heavily dependent on coal, the most common domestic energy source, in the coming decades. .
That’s worrying for climate change, but good news for the last Indian company on our list of stocks hitting new highs: AAA-rated Coal India (IN:533278).
Vietnamese companies have also become increasingly popular with the world’s top portfolio managers this year. One of the country’s highest-rated companies makes our list of high-rated stocks: AA-rated shipping group Gemadept (VN:GMD).
Gemadept is benefiting from rising shipping costs after a slump of almost a year and a half. In addition, there are some signs that the prospects for Vietnam’s fast-growing exports could improve and favorable changes are being made to industry regulations.
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Buy, build and prosper
Mark Leonard, former venture capital boss and founder and chairman of AA-certified software conglomerate Constellation Software (CA:CSU), has achieved cult status among investors, and not just because of the messianic qualities of this long white beard. He is known for his ability to spend money wisely, especially through acquisitions that range in size from a few million to billions.
If a company wants to create value for its shareholders, the CEO’s capital allocation skills are critical. With investors convinced of Leonard’s capabilities in this area, Constellation’s deployment of more than $2 billion in deals this year has excited the market and helped the stock reach new highs.
Roper Technologies (US: ROP) has an AA rating and has described itself as something of a constellation in the making. Because it has traditionally focused on capital-intensive industrial businesses, it has gone through a period of divestment to reinvent itself as a buy-and-build niche software conglomerate.
It may lack Constellation’s track record in this area, but the new highs suggest Roper is winning plaudits, including some elite investors.
Another tech product on the list that has undergone its own reinvention in recent years is AAA-rated Dell Technologies (US: DELL). The company was taken private for a period as part of a business overhaul to refocus on business customers and IT services.
It is currently benefiting from both demand driven by rising AI spending in data centers and signs that its other businesses may have hit a cyclical low.
We recently profiled Dell after it showed up in our hunt for the top-rated stocks experiencing major forecast upgrades.
Read more: Top fund managers bet the worst is over for the reinvented Dell
Consumer boomers
There’s a lot of gloomy sentiment about the global economic outlook, as illustrated by the IMF’s lackluster global growth forecasts, but several consumer moves land on our list of highly rated Elite Companies Hitting New 52-Week Stock Price Highs.
AAA-rated Abercrombie & Fitch (US:ABF), a mall brand that was last cool in the 1990s, is benefiting from a reinvention by CEO Fran Horowitz.
Even as new allegations of sexual exploitation surface during Abercrombie’s heyday, today’s focus on inclusivity is winning over young shoppers. We profiled the stocks last month when we looked for the highest-rated companies with strong three-month share price gains.
Read more: Retro revival – Top investors are capitalizing on the 90s fashion stock boom
The Danish jewelry group Pandora (DK:PNDORA) is also benefiting from the brand renewal. The Phoenix strategy is reaping big financial rewards this year, helped by the growing popularity of lab-grown diamonds, in which the company specializes.
Arguably less glamorous is low-profile AA franchisor Winmark (US:WINA). It has 1,250 franchises in North America that specialize in selling a variety of second-hand “gently used” goods. This seems especially in line with our more sustainable times.
Even more new highlights
Other stocks on the list include AA-rated hospital communications specialist Spok (US: SPOK), which recently announced a strategic review.
AAA-rated education company Stride (US:LRN), meanwhile, delighted investors when it reported first-quarter results last month, showing that big price increases for courses were accompanied by a jump in enrollments.
And AAA-rated trucking company XPO (US:XPO) continues to benefit from the collapse of key rival Yellow, a situation we highlighted last summer during one of our searches for stocks showing strong three-month share price performance.
Read more: Loads more top-rated AI stocks (and XPO)
How this week’s data dive works
Our search for stocks making new highs and lows starts by identifying the fifth of the large- and small-cap stocks (market cap under $2.2 billion) most popular among the world’s top portfolio managers, followed by Citywire Elite Companies. All shares must also have at least an AA rating.
We then identify the stocks that are at or very near the top or bottom of their 52-week stock price range.
Our hunt for top stocks hitting highs and lows is one of five data dives that Citywire Elite Companies conducts each week to highlight ideas from our exclusive database of companies, backed by the best portfolio managers in the world.
The five data dives are:
The tables below of stocks hitting new highs and lows are ranked by the stocks’ popularity among Citywire Elite Companies’ elite portfolio managers.
New highlights
Source: FactSet, as of November 9, 2023
New lows
Source: FactSet, as of November 9, 2023
