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3 Stocks to Buy Amid Persisting Market Volatility

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The recently released CPI numbers for May triggered a general feeling in the market that the Federal Reserve would interpret the gradual decline in prices as the success of its tight monetary policy measures. Since Q1 2022, the Fed raised interest rates 10 straight times in its meetings, up to a level of 5-5.25%, to tackle the inflation rate, which had clocked 40-year highs. This had given rise to the fear that the Fed would not be able to attain a soft landing for the economy and the United States might enter a recession.

However, with inflation slowing down and various other market indicators showing that demand had slowed, there was a consensus that the central bank would finally stop raising rates, thereby allowing various sectors to breathe. And indeed, the Fed announced after its Jun 13-14 meeting that it had opted for a much-anticipated rate-hike pause. However, the Fed also indicated that there may be further rate hikes later in the year.

In the week that followed, various Fed officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in his Congressional testimony, suggested that the central bank was looking at two more rate hikes of 25 bps each before the year ends because even as inflation has come down, it has not come down to the target level of 2% set by the Fed.

This ensured a week of sell-offs, and with rate hikes now expected from the July Fed meeting, the market would continue to be volatile. It is of the utmost importance to invest in stocks that rode the incumbent volatility well through the past year and are expected to do well in the near future.

Our Choices

These stocks have withstood the test of the 2022 bloodbath and are pitted to do well in 2023. Moreover, these companies pay out dividend, which is a testament to their core strength, and is a chief requirement of the times for risk-averse investors looking for regular income generation.

The stocks below flaunt a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The search was also narrowed down with a VGM Score of A or B. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth, and M for Momentum; the score is a weighted combination of these three metrics. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and select winners. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AGM - Free Report) is a federally chartered instrument of the United States created to act as a secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural housing mortgages. It operates in the Corporate AgFinance, Farm & Ranch, Rural Utilities, and Renewable Energy segments.

Federal Agricultural’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 13.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has improved 3.6% over the past 60 days. Zacks Rank #2 AGM has a dividend yield of 3.1% and a VGM score of B.

Global Ship Lease, Inc. (GSL - Free Report) is a fast-growing, charter-owner of container ships. It is engaged in the business of owning and chartering out containerships under long-term, fixed-rate charters to large container liners.

Global Ship Lease’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 8.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has improved 5.9% over the past 60 days. Zacks Rank #2 GSL has a dividend yield of 8% and a VGM score of B.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TNP - Free Report) is a leading provider of international seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services. It provides marine transportation services for oil companies and refiners under long, medium and short-term charters.

Tsakos Energy’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 56.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has improved 2.6% over the past 60 days. Zacks Rank #2 TNP has a dividend yield of 3.4% and a VGM score of A.

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