S&P 500 To Celebrate One Year Of New High: Top ETFs & Stocks

Though the U.S. bourses staged a strong comeback from January’s market meltdown, the rally fizzled out recently and the stocks are again far from their all-time highs reached a year ago. Notably, the S&P 500 is down 4.4% from its record high set on May 21, 2015.

This is because a number of headwinds have plagued the stock market in the past one-year period, leading to bouts of volatility and heightened uncertainty. It all started with the relentless slide in crude oil, the political turmoil in Greece, a strong dollar, weak corporate earnings, lofty valuation, Fed uncertainty, and then extended to geopolitical tensions and China-led global growth concerns. Additionally, easing policies of the central banks across the globe have not yet started to pay off, thereby lowering investor’s confidence in the economies.

Further, the growth momentum in the U.S. has slowed down with the economy growing at the slowest pace in two years in the first quarter of this year. The economy expanded at a rate of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2016, down from 1.4% in the fourth quarter, 2% in the third, 3.9% in the second and 0.6% in the first quarter of 2015. Weak consumer spending, sluggish business investments, and reduced exports have taken a toll on the economy (read: Volatility ETFs: Buy or Sell Now?).

Given the choppy markets, there still have been winners in many corners of the stock world as well as ETF space. Most of them have generated incredible returns over the past one-year period and have easily crushed the broader market. As a result, we have highlighted the five best performing ETFs and stocks that are poised to perform well for the rest of the year, especially if the same trend persists.

Best ETFs

All these funds have a favorable Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), suggesting more room for upside.

PowerShares S&P SmallCap Utilities Portfolio (PSCU)

This ETF targets the utility sector and follows the S&P SmallCap 600 Capped Utilities & Telecom Services Index.

Zacks ETF Rank: #3
AUM: $136.4 million
Expense Ratio: 0.29%
1-Year Return: 18.5%

Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RHS)

This fund offers equal-weight exposure to the consumer staples stocks by tracking the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index Consumer Staples (read: Consumer Staples ETF Hits New 52 Week High).

Zacks ETF Rank: #3
AUM: $738.2 million
Expense Ratio: 0.40%
1-Year Return: 12.9%

PowerShares High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers Portfolio (PEY)

This fund offers exposure to the dividend yielding companies that consistently increase the payout and tracks the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers 50 Index (read: 5 Global High Dividend ETFs Under $25 in Focus).

Zacks ETF Rank: #2
AUM: $775.4 million
Expense Ratio: 0.54%
1-Year Return: 12.3%

PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance Fund (KBWP)

This fund provides targeted exposure to property and casualty insurers by tracking the KBW Property & Casualty Index.

Zacks ETF Rank: #3
AUM: $70.7 million
Expense Ratio: 0.35%
1-Year Return: 11.9%

iShares Residential Real Estate Capped ETF (REZ)

The fund follows the FTSE NAREIT All Residential Capped Index and provides exposure to the U.S. residential real estate stocks and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Zacks ETF Rank: #2
AUM: $449.8 million
Expense Ratio: 0.48%
1-Year Return: 10.3%

Best Stocks

We have highlighted the S&P 500 stocks that outperformed the index over the one-year period and have the potential to continue doing so in the coming months given that they have a top Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy).

Cablevision Systems Corporation ( (NYSE:CVC) )

This New York-based company is a leading telecommunications and media player with a portfolio of operations that includes a full suite of advanced digital television, voice and high-speed Internet services and valuable local media and programming properties (read: Telecom ETFs Falling on Lackluster Earnings).

Zacks Rank: #1
Market Cap: $10.15 billion
Fiscal 2016 Earnings Growth: -12.94%
1-Year Return: 65.9%

Tyson Foods Inc. ( (NYSE:TSN) )

This Arkansas-based company is one of the world’s largest producers of chicken, beef, pork and prepared foods, offering a wide range of protein-based and prepared foods products.

Zacks Rank: #2
Market Cap: $24.30 billion
Fiscal 2016 Earnings Growth: 36.90%
1-Year Return: 52.9%

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. ( (NYSE:EW) )

This California-based company is the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. It provides products and technologies to treat late-stage cardiovascular disease.

Zacks Rank: #1
Market Cap: $21.13 billion
Fiscal 2016 Earnings Growth: 20.20%
1-Year Return: 49.2%

Facebook Inc. ( (NASDAQ:FB) )

This California-based company is a global leader in social networking. It operates as a mobile application and website that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers worldwide (read: Another Blowout Quarter for Facebook: ETFs to Ride On).

Zacks Rank: #1
Market Cap: $336.51 billion
Fiscal 2016 Earnings Growth: 87.84%
1-Year Return: 44.9%

Campbell Soup Company ( (NYSE:CPB) )

This New Jersey-based company is a global manufacturer and marketer of high quality, branded convenience food products.

Zacks Rank: #2
Market Cap: $19.62 billion
Fiscal 2016 Earnings Growth: 20.28%
1-Year Return: 40.2%


PWRSH-SP SC UTL (PSCU): ETF Research Reports

GUGG-SP5 EW C S (RHS): ETF Research Reports

PWRSH-HY EQ DV (PEY): ETF Research Reports

PWRSH-K P&C INS (KBWP): ETF Research Reports

ISHARS-RES RE (REZ): ETF Research Reports

CABLEVISION SYS (CVC): Free Stock Analysis Report

TYSON FOODS A (TSN): Free Stock Analysis Report

EDWARDS LIFESCI (EW): Free Stock Analysis Report

FACEBOOK INC-A (FB): Free Stock Analysis Report

CAMPBELL SOUP (CPB): Free Stock Analysis Report

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