2021: The 21 Best Stocks to Invest

1. PayPal Holdings

• Industry: Credit services
• Market value: $247.0 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Will Danoff, the CEO of Fidelity Contrafund, celebrated his 30th anniversary in September (FCNTX). His recent success has been less than impressive. In two of the last five years, the $125 billion fund has struggled to outperform the large-company index.

2. Castle Biosciences

• Industry: Diagnostics and research
• Market value: $1.2 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Glassman has also been researching the Wasatch Ultra Growth (WAMCX) portfolio, which has outperformed the industry with an annual average return of 26.6 percent over the last five years.

3. IEC Electronics

• Industry: Electronic components
• Market value: $121.9 million
• Dividend yield: N/A

While small-company stocks have been out of demand for at least six years, there are still several gems to be discovered. Shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15, according to Abramowitz’s earnings estimate for the coming year, and profits “could leap to the positive side.”

4. Hilton Worldwide Holdings

• Industry: Lodging
• Market value: $29.6 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT, $106.70) is a bet on a rebound after COVID.

5. Alibaba Group

• Industry: Internet retail
• Market value: $713.7 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Glassman is intrigued by Matthews China’s (MCHFX) large new stake in global e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group (BABA, $263.80).

6. Pinterest

• Industry: Social media
• Market value: $42.3 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Pinterest (PINS, $68.47) is a social media platform that enables people to post photos categorized by keywords. In general, the user interface is about discovering and delivering creativity.

7. Twilio

• Industry: Internet content and information
• Market value: $50.2 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Twilio (TWLO, $312.54) helps companies to embed text, talk, email, audio, and video into items that increase consumer experience.

8. Upland Software

• Industry: Application software
• Market value: $1.3 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

Upland Software (UPLD, $42.83), headquartered in Austin, Texas, is Glassman’s pick for 2021. Upland Software provides automated solutions for enterprises to control their client base.

9. Wayfair

• Industry: Internet retail
• Market value: $23.9 billion
• Dividend yield: N/A

In nearly every way, internet home products retailer Wayfair (W, $240.60) outperformed forecasts in the most recent period.

10. Microsoft

• Industry:Infrastructure software
• Market value:$1.6 trillion
• Dividend yield:1%

Just a few stocks are ranked first in each of the three categories: timeliness, protection, and financial power, out of hundreds evaluated by the Value Line Investment Survey.

11. Stryker

• Industry:Medical devices
• Market value:$88.7 billion
• Dividend yield:1%

Medical instruments from Stryker (SYK, $235.93) include implants for joint replacements and spinal procedures, as well as surgical instruments and guidance systems.

12. Tennant

• Industry: Specialty industrial machinery
• Market value: $1.3 billion
• Dividend yield: 1.3%

Tennant (TNC, $70.90) makes high-quality floor scrubbers.

13. United Parcel Service

• Industry: Integrated freight and logistics
• Market value: $146.2 billion
• Dividend yield: 2.4%

United Parcel Service (UPS, $169.18), the world’s biggest package delivery firm, has recently been upgraded from Neutral to Buy by UBS Securities. Despite capacity constraints in the market as a whole, the brokerage sees the opportunity for price increases in 2021. UPS’s cost-cutting efforts are also helping to raise gross margins.

14. Bank of America

• Industry: Diversified banks
• Market value: $249.1 billion
• Dividend yield: 2.5%

Bank of America (BAC, $28.80) is the next business we’ll look into. BAC’s stock has been on a tear since March, but it is only trading at 2017 prices. It’s as if the previous four years’ equity bubble never happened.

15. Intel

• Industry: Semiconductors
• Market value: $205.2 billion
• Dividend yield: 2.6%

Intel looks like an unusual tech bargain, however, with a forward price-earnings ratio of 11 and a 2.6% dividend yield.

16. JPMorgan Chase

• Industry: Diversified banks
• Market value: $369.0 billion
• Dividend yield: 3.0%

Shares in JPMorgan Chase (JPM, $121.05), the financial services giant, have fallen 13% in 2020. The stock trades on par with the typical big bank – a bargain for “the best of the best” of banks, says John Buckingham, editor of The Prudent Speculator newsletter.

17. LyondellBasell

• Industry: Specialty chemicals
• Market value: $29.6 billion
• Dividend yield: 4.7%

LyondellBasell (LYB, $88.54) had a terrible year in 2020, never making a profit from day one. It sells plastics and petrochemicals mainly, but it also operates a massive refinery that produces oil, diesel fuel, and jet fuel.

18. Dow

• Industry: Chemicals
• Market value: $40.5 billion
• Dividend yield: 5.1%

Similarly, Dow (DOW, $54.66) seems to be an excellent portfolio for 2021.

19. Enterprise Products Partners LP

• Industry: Oil and gas midstream
• Market value: $45.1 billion
• Dividend yield: 8.6%

In 2021, we’ll see how EPD works. As we wait, we will take advantage of the market-beating 8.6% dividend, which is paid in cold, hard dollars.

20. Ares Capital Corporation

• Industry: Asset management
• Market value: $7.3 billion
• Dividend yield: 9.3%

With a market capitalization of just over $7 billion, Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC, $17.21) is the world’s biggest BDC. Ares is also one of the most conservatively distributed, with 73 percent of its portfolio spent in first and second-lien loans, guaranteeing that it is paid first.

21. Oneok

• Industry: Oil and gas midstream
• Market value: $17.9 billion
• Dividend yield: 9.3%

Glassman’s final choice is Oneok (OKE, $40.22), a 114-year-old Tulsa natural gas refinery and pipeline firm that is tied for the most generous dividend payer on this list of recommended stocks to invest in 2021, with a yield of 9.3 percent.