Needless to say, the first quarter was the proverbial roller-coaster ride for investors. After a gut-wrenching 10% or so sell-off to start the year that lasted all the way until almost the middle of February, the market finally turned and rallied back to just about breakeven by the end of the quarter. The question now is what are the good ideas to put to work for the second quarter, especially after a somewhat rough start.
A recent Merrill Lynch research report features its quarterly top 10 ideas. Eight are stocks to Buy and two are rated Underperform and are potential short sale candidates. Here we focus on the eight top stocks to Buy. The analysts are smart and for the most part play it safe by staying away from momentum areas that could get bludgeoned in a downturn.
American Water Works
This could be the premiere name for investors to own. American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. It provides drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 14 million people in more than 40 states and parts of Canada.
American Water Work investors receive a 1.95% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock is $72, and the Thomson/First Call consensus target is $68.38. The shares closed Thursday at $69.80.
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