[cnxvideo id=”655412″ placement=”ros”]Even though the new year is barely three weeks old, it’s not too soon to take a look at how the 30 blue chip stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are faring. Since coming within a fraction of a point of 20,000 on January 6, the Dow has lost nearly 200 points, as of early this morning, inauguration day for President-elect Donald Trump.
Including an adjustment for dividends, 13 DJIA stocks have posted losses so far this year, and two of the index’s 10 most heavily weighted shares are among the biggest losers, with those two alone accounting for more than 12% of the index average. All told, the five worst performing stocks account for about 20% of the Dow and 16.7% of its components.
The five worst performing stocks to date in 2017 are Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).
Also check out the 24/7 Wall St. review of the best Dow stocks so far this year.
Following the November elections, the sectors posting the best gains to date were financials (up about 16%); industrials (up about 9%); and materials (up about 7.7%). But since the beginning of the year, financials are down about 2%, energy is down about 1%, and health care has slipped from a high of about 2.5% to a gain of just 0.5%.
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Adjusted for dividends, Exxon Mobil stock traded down 6.13% for the year to date, as of mid-morning Friday. The stock traded at $85.32 in a 52-week range of $73.55 to $95.55, and the dividend yield is 3.48%. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $88.87. Last week, analysts at Wells Fargo cut its rating from Outperform to Market Perform and cut the valuation range from $92 to $100 to a new range of $87 to $93. We also have a look and the bull/bear case for Exxon and Chevron, the two energy stocks among the Dow 30.
Financial sector giant Travelers has dropped 3.62% on a dividend-adjusted basis in the new year. In our bull/bear analysis of the Dow financial stocks, we noted that Travelers posted a share price gain of 11% in 2016, and the shares might have been overbought earlier this year. The stock traded up about 0.3% Friday morning, at $118.38 in a 52-week range of $101.55 to $123.09. The dividend yield is 2.26%, and the consensus price target is $121.25.
Goldman Sachs is the most heavily weighted stock in the Dow, accounting for 8.03% of the index’s value. Goldman stock added 60% to its share price in the past six months of 2016, primarily on the basis of an expected easing of regulations on financial institutions under Trump administration. The stock has lost 3.36% since the beginning of the year and traded down about 0.2% Friday morning, at $230.99 in a 52-week range of $138.20 to $247.77. The consensus price target is $245.55 and the dividend yield is 1.11%.
JPMorgan is the third financial stock among the five worst performers for the year to date. Shares have lost 2.93% since the beginning of the year, after gaining about 35% in 2016. The bank’s dividend yield is 2.29%, and the stock traded up about 0.5% Friday morning to $83.73 The 52-week trading range is $52.50 to $88.17. The consensus price target on the stock is $88.93, with a January price target boost at Barclays from $79 to $100.
Drug maker Pfizer ranks third from the bottom among Dow stocks with a price-weighting of just 1.1%, and it is the least-weighted of the index’s four health care stocks. The pharmaceutical giant posted a return of just 4.42% in 2016 and has dropped 2.4% to date in 2017. Shares traded up about 1.1% Friday, at $32.05 in a 52-week range of $28.25 to $37.39. The current dividend yield is 4%, and the consensus price target is $37.57.
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