Individual Stock Performance Into Year End

Yesterday we dove into which sectors performed the best into the end of the year.  If you missed this the article can be viewed here.  Today we will dig deeper to see which stocks in the S&P 500 perform the best and worst into the end of the year.  In order to find the best seasonally performing stocks we will look at performance since 2000 with a minimum ten year price history.
Since 2000, the best performing stock in the Month of November based on average returns is Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) with an average 16.41% return.  American Tower Corporation REIT (NYSE:AMT), Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE), and Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) followed with returns above 10% each.  Based on win rates, Machinery Erection&Construction JSC (HN:VMC)and McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) have never been lower in November.  A number of other stocks have win rates of 92.86%.

The worst performing stock since 2000 in the month of November is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) with an average return of -9.23% and a 28.57% win rate.  Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) have all lost greater than 4% on average in the month of November.  Based on win rates, EWT, T, KSS, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and VRTX are all tied with a 28.57% win rate.

Since 2000, GNW has been the best performing stock based on average returns in December.  GNW has averaged a 14.60% return and an 80% win rate.  Owens-Illinois Inc (NYSE:OI) was a close contender with an average return of 14.19%.  Based on win rates Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET), Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK), Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU), PEPCO Holdings Inc (NYSE:POM) and Dominion Resources Inc (NYSE:D) have all closed higher 92.86% of the time in December.

Moving on to the stocks that have performed the worst in December, Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) has topped the list with a negative return of -4.82% on average.  Furthermore,F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), and GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) have all fallen more than 3% on average.  Based on win rates, Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) has closed higher in December 28.57% of the time and has an average return of -2.45%.

In conclusion, seasonality plays a strong role in year end market performance.  This list should provide investors a number of names to keep on the radar as we close out the year that have historically outperformed the overall market.