Investors love stocks that can produce big gains. They especially like it when these actions are among the leaders of their sectors, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^ DJI) includes shares of 30 of the best companies in the world. Many investors consider the Dow 30 to be one of the safest and most reliable stocks on the market.
After a strong 2020, some fear that the stock market may have gone too far. To them, safer moves like first-rate Dow stocks seem like a safer bet. Even so, even within Dow, you can still find companies that have the kind of growth outlook that will support rising stock prices. In fact, if Wall Street’s most optimistic analysts are right about them, the following three stocks could see their stock prices post gains of 40% or more in the near future.
1. Boeing
Aerospace giant Boeing (NYSE: BA) it is the game of archetypal value for those looking for bearish stocks for a relative bargain. Hit with the double blow of having multiple accidents with its new 737 MAX aircraft model and then having air traffic almost paralyzed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Boeing’s shares plunged nearly 80% among their highs in early 2019 and its worst levels last March.
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However, Boeing has more than doubled from casualties, and some Wall Street analysts are quite optimistic about the stock. While the $ 230 average stock price target is only about 7% higher than its most recent close, Baird analysts upgraded shares last November from neutral to superior performance and set a target price of $ 306 per share. This would represent a 42% increase from here.
In Baird’s view, the 737 MAX’s return to service should lead to a return to long-term growth for the aircraft manufacturer. In addition, favorable trends in COVID-19 case counting and gradual progress in vaccinations may bode well for air travel to return to previous traffic levels sooner or later.
Boeing suffered huge losses in 2020 and faces more uncertainty as airlines retract and figure out how to move on. However, as one of the two largest global commercial aircraft manufacturers, Boeing must recover, as long as people don’t give up on air travel forever.
2. Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) it has already given long-term investors a big reward for staying with the investment banking giant last year. While stocks fell sharply at the start of the coronavirus crisis because of fears that massive unemployment would cause major loan defaults and economic chaos, Goldman’s shares started to hit new highs in early 2021 and have already risen 13% in less six weeks.
Analysts believe the good times may still be ahead for Goldman. An average price target of $ 334 per share is about 11% higher than current levels, but Oppenheimer has more ambitious ideas, with his superior performance rating and the $ 445 share price target set in January, representing a gain of almost 50% compared to current levels.
Oppenheimer was pleased to see Goldman doing extremely well when it released its fourth quarter financial results in January. In particular, the Wall Street bank’s profit was 63% higher than most investors expected, and Goldman was optimistic about how its prospects for 2021 are.
Goldman Sachs basically sailed on water for much of the 2010s, and many believed that the bank’s best days were behind them. But now, confidence in Goldman is back, and further advancement in record territory is quite possible.
3. UnitedHealth
Finally, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has been an excellent performer for years. The health insurance giant recovered almost all losses from the pandemic’s collapse in just one month, and its shares increased by about 10% last year.
Wall Street has high hopes for UnitedHealth. Even the average price target of $ 396 per share is 20% higher than current levels. The top $ 462 call from analysts in Morgan Stanley it is totally 40% higher.
Morgan Stanley has some positive opinions about the health insurer. Its basic target price complements its stock overweight rating, with reasonable assumptions to reach the $ 462 figure. However, Morgan also modeled a more optimistic scenario in which it predicts a higher target price of $ 529 per share. That would be about 60% above current levels.
Investors are optimistic that UnitedHealth is perfectly positioned for a change in leadership in Washington, with new health care that should complement its strategy of having a sizeable presence in the Medicare and Medicaid insurance markets. The Optum health benefits and services unit has been an even bigger gold mine for UnitedHealth, and its prospects look strong, regardless of what happens with federal health policy. In short, UnitedHealth is prepared for what is to come, and this is a good position for investors.
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Just because a stock is a household name does not mean that you cannot make money by investing in it. If Wall Street analysts are right, the gains for UnitedHealth, Goldman Sachs and Boeing could be considerable in 2021 and beyond. This makes them worthy of a closer look from investors looking for good investment ideas.