Five Top Stocks From Wall Street Analysts For A Choppy Market

With the return of volatility to the stock market after a period of record lows, here are five stocks that have low volatility (with a beta under 0.5) and a strong performance in the quarter.

A beta of less than 1 means that the stock is, theoretically, less volatile than the market.

These stocks also have the backing of Wall Street’s top stock pickers, with a “strong buy” analyst consensus rating.

 In other words, these analysts have the most profitable track records out of 4,700 tracked analysts. Here are the five stocks with big support from these best-performing analysts, as published by CNBC on February 20.

1. Skechers USA (SKX)

Beta 0.26, up 21 percent in quarter

Shoe brand Skechers USA is primed for growth. Top Susquehanna analyst 

 has just boosted his price target to $52 from $46. The new target is 33 percent higher than Friday’s closing price. Following a blowout fourth quarter earnings report, Poser said he is confident that the stock’s current momentum is here to stay.

“Another significant earnings beat reinforces our belief that SKX is at the beginning of a multiyear run of superior earnings growth and outsized investor returns,” he said.

According to Poser, the company’s domestic wholesale business is inflecting while the potential for growth in international markets is robust. He predicts that strong Chinese growth will enable management to meet its targeted $6 billion in revenue by 2020.

“A premium multiple is warranted as we are confident that the SKX business is on the verge of a material positive inflection,” Poser concludes in his Feb. 9 report. On Skechers specifically, Poser has a 72 percent success rate and 37 percent average return across 43 stock ratings.

In the last three months, Skechers has received 100 percent Street support with six consecutive analyst buy ratings.

2. 2U Inc (TWOU)

Beta -0.02, up 20 percent in quarter