As an investor, you likely want to protect your portfolio from the risks of a bear market and uncertain economic conditions. One way to do this is by investing in defensive stocks. Defensive stocks are stocks that tend to perform well during times of market volatility because they provide goods and services that are essential, no matter the state of the economy. Let’s take a closer look at what defensive stocks are and how you can use them to protect your portfolio.
What Are Defensive Stocks?
Defensive stocks typically belong to companies involved in consumer staples, healthcare, or utilities. These companies offer products or services that are essential or necessary regardless of economic conditions, so their profits remain relatively stable even when other sectors suffer in a bear market.
Examples of consumer staples often include food and beverage companies, while healthcare could refer to pharmaceutical companies and utilities could refer to energy providers or telecommunications firms. If this has you keen on investing in the defensive sector, here are three defense stocks to check out in the stock market this week.
Defense Stocks To Watch Now
- FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX)
- Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST)
- McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK)
FedEx (FDX Stock)
Leading off, FedEx Corporation (FDX) is an American multinational delivery services company. FedEx Corporation is the world’s largest airline by cargo volume and revenue, and it is the fourth-largest commercial airline in the United States.
Just last month, FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.15 per share. The dividend is payable to shareholders on January 3, 2023, and to stockholders on record on December 12, 2022. This equates to an annual dividend yield of 2.58% for FDX shareholders.
Meanwhile, taking a look at the last month of trading, shares of FedEx Corporation stock have rebounded by 12.09%. During Monday’s mid-morning trading session, FDX stock is trading lower by 1.61% at $178.54 a share.
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Costco Wholesale (COST Stock)
Last but not least, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) is a company that operates a chain of membership-only warehouses. Costco offers its members low prices on a variety of merchandise, including electronics, appliances, furniture, office supplies, and much more.
In recent news, just last week, Costco Wholesale announced its sales results for November 2022. In detail, the company reported net sales of $19.17 billion for the retail month of November. This reflects an increase of 5.7% from $18.13 billion in November of 2021.
In 2022 so far, COST stock has dropped by 13.93%. Meanwhile, as of Monday, shares of COST stock have dropped 1.32%, currently trading at $488.00 a share.
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McKesson (MCK Stock)
Last but not least, is McKesson Corporation (MCK). In brief, McKesson Corporation is an American company that provides health care and business services.
Last month, McKesson reported its Q2 2023 financial results. Diving in, the company reported Q2 2023 earnings of $6.06 per share, along with $70.2 billion. For clarity, analysts’ estimates for the quarter were earnings of $6.13 per share and revenue of $69.7 billion. With that, the company also said it estimates FY 2023 earnings of $24.45 to $24.95 per share.
Year-to-date shares of MCK stock have increased by 53.90%, outperforming the broader markets so far. Meanwhile, on Monday MCK stock are down by 1.30%, currently trading at $381.83 a share.
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