Barron's stock picks for 2020

Update Jun 16, 2022:  Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) announced that it is changing its name to Elevance Health and will revive the Wellpoint name in some markets. The name change becomes official on June 28 and the company's ticker symbol will be ELV. Elevance is blending of the words elevate and advance. The company adopted the Anthem in late 2014 after being known as Wellpoint. 

Barron’s has identified these 10 top stocks for the coming year:

1. Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.A), 
2. Comcast, (CMCSA), 
3. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), 
4. Pfizer (PFE), 
5. ViacomCBS (VIAC), 
6. Anthem (ANTM), 
7. Dell Technologies (DELL).
8. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL)
9. U-Haul owner Amerco (UHAL), 
10. United Technologies (UTX).

The group has an average projected 2020 price/earnings ratio of 14, against 18 for the S&P 500. The average dividend yield is 1.8%, in line with the overall market.

charts (finviz): day's change,  vol

(by ave 3-mo vol)
         

Barron's stock picks for 2019 -- how they fared

U.S. stocks are ending the year on a high note. The S&P 500 index boasts a total return of 29% year to date—a great showing in the 11th year of an extraordinary bull market.

How did Barron's picks fare?

Apple had a stellar showing, but energy stocks Chevron and Energy Transfer held down the returns.

Company / Ticker	Closing Price 12/14/18	Closing Price 12/12/19	Total Return*
Alphabet / GOOG	$1,042.10	$1,350.27	29.6%
Apple / AAPL	165.48	271.46	66.5
Bank of America / BAC	24.48	34.68	44.9
BlackRock / BLK	382.30	502.12	35.3
Caterpillar / CAT	126.77	146.78	19.0
Chevron / CVX	113.83	118.81	8.6
Daimler / DDAIF	53.31	55.75	11.8
Delta Air Lines / DAL	53.51	56.69	8.8
Energy Transfer / ET	14.07	12.64	-2.0
Toll Brothers / TOL	32.22	39.24	23.2
Average			24.6
S&P 500	2,599.95	3,168.57	24.3

*Includes dividends

Source: Bloomberg

Barron's stock picks for 2016 from top newsletters

Mark Hulbert’s “Honor Roll” is out with its year-ahead stock picks. And they’re fairly bullish on the year ahead.  Hulbert relies on “a select group of advisors who have produced above-average performance in both the up and down phases of the market’s last three cycles."

Below is a list of stocks recommended by three or more advisors on Hulbert's Honor Roll.

• Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB )
• Boeing ( BA )
• Chevron ( CVX )
• Gilead Sciences ( GILD )
• LyondellBasell Industries ( LYB )
• Pfizer ( PFE )
• Philip Morris International ( PM )
• Schlumberger ( SLB )
• Target ( TGT )
• Travelers ( TRV )
• Union Pacific ( UNP )