Top Stocks for August 2022

In this article, I'm going over my top six stocks in 2022 for the month of August. So over the last month, I've researched hundreds of different companies. And this is my list of stocks I think should be on your watch list.

In this article, you will see my full analysis of each of these companies. I'll go over key numbers, recent news, and why expect them to grow in the long term. 

Now the housing market has entered what might be a small recession, with some analysts calling it a potential repeat of the 2008 recession. Meanwhile, inflation rates have reached historic highs.

And these price increases have compelled the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Of course, nobody fully knows what's going to happen next. But the best thing that you can do is just stay updated on the news and just dollar cost average into the stock market.

#1. NUMBER

So, the first company we are going to analyze is American Express. ($AXP). AMEX is a multinational corporation well known for its payment card services. So right now one share of AMEX is trading at $154.02 with a 52, week low of $134.12, and a 52-week high of $199.55. 

If we take a look at one of your price charts, you can see that one year ago, we were trading at about $170 per share, we've seen some ups and some downs as well as thing an all-time high of about $200 a share.

But since then, it has corrected a little bit with a small recovery recently with a market cap of $115.476 billion and a PE ratio of 15.75. earnings per share $9.78 And they do pay a small dividend of 1.35%. 

This Finance has listed as near fair value, and particularly the valuation measures being set we have a five-year expected PEG ratio of 1.33 and a price book ratio of 4.91. The current profit margin is 15.86%. And we have a return on equity of 31.2%, which is very strong. In the last 12 months, the company has earned revenues $47.96 billion revenue.

If we look at the balance sheet they have total cash of $25.19 billion with a strong current ratio of 1.63. Their current dividend payout ratio is 19.43%. Now it's always interesting to see what analysts have to say So on a scale of one to five, one being a strong buy and five being a sell, AMEX's rating is 2.3, meaning it is a buy.

The average analyst price target is $170.52, which is about 20% higher than the current price of $154.02. So a recent report revealed the change in credit card spending among American Express users with rapid increases in spending for airlines, lodging, and restaurants. 

This is the first summer in years where the global market isn't significantly hindered by potential outbreaks. And the result is a consumer market hungry for travel and spending. Now one of the biggest benefactors of this market boom will be credit card companies such as American Express, and we can see these benefits play out in the financials of the company. 

AMEX recently announced its second-quarter earnings where the financial services company reported a 31% year-over-year increase in total revenues net of interest expense. You also can't ignore the fact that the company's total network volume grew by a whopping 28% year over year, which indicates an increase in consumer usage and spending on their services. 

Stephen Squeri, the CEO of American Express expressed his confidence in AMEX and his financial performance within a financial recession. If one was going to happen, he made it very clear that he didn't see a recession happening anytime soon. And AMEX's earnings results really reflect confidence and durability in the company's ability to do business. 

Given the economic fears that many consumers have right now, it would be more than reasonable to turn to a financial services company that is highly faithful to its own business and the state of the market as a whole. Overall, I

think that $AXP is definitely worth checking out. 

#2. NUMBER

The next on the list is UMH Properties ($UMH). UMH Properties is a public real estate investment trust with a portfolio of well over 20,000 developed home sites throughout 10 states in America. Right now one share of the company is trading at $21.31, with a 52-week low of $16.50 and a 52, week high of $27.50. 

The company's one-year price chart shows a relatively stable price between $22.50 and $27. But a few months ago, we did see a pretty big correction in the price of the stock followed by a swift recovery. They have a market cap of $1.156 billion with a P.E ratio of 106.55, which is a very high earnings per share of 20 cents and they pay a great dividend of 3.75%. 

If we look at the valuation measures, we can see a price-to-sales ratio of 5.59 and a price-to-book ratio of 3.75. Their profit margin is currently 21.45%. They have return equity of 6.16%. And this is on revenues of $188.71 million in the last year. If Look at their balance sheet we have total cash of $292.46 million and a current ratio of 22.36. 

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Right now the rating of $UMH is 1.7 meaning it is a buy and the average analyst price target is $26.50 which is just over 20% higher than the current price of $21.31. Alright, so you'll make properties recently close a deal acquiring yet another manufactured home community in Erie,

Michigan called Hidden Creek through the deal you'll make added another 351 developed homesites to its portfolio these home sites take up nearly 90 acres and are over 60% occupied.

So this recent acquisition shows that you may still have the means and the mindset to grow and expand its portfolio and satisfy As investors another way of assessing the credibility of his REIT is by looking at who owns the stock. If we look at the distribution of shareholders, we can see that the vast majority of us shareholders are institutional investors. 

Anything that you make has high credibility amongst the biggest investors in the market. This is definitely reassuring for retail investors like us, but some of you are probably wondering why I encouraged investing in the real estate investment trust one, there is a big question mark in the housing market right now.

So first off REITs tend to perform really well at the stage in the economic cycle with this graph, and kidding is 17 100% returns from REITs since the late 80s. But another attractive feature of UNH is its dividend payments at the beginning of July, you may just declare common and preferred dividends with a quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share payable to shareholders at the close of business on August 15, 2022. 

This is a pleasant upgrade from its previous dividend of 19 cents per share and the stable income that shareholders will receive through these dividend payments will be more than satisfying if a broader market recession were to happen.

#3. NUMBER

The third company on the list is Darden Restaurants($DRI). Darden Restaurants is an American restaurant company that's known for its ownership of restaurants such as Eddie v's and the Capitol Grille as well as restaurant chains such as olive garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, seasons 52, Yard House, and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. 

So currently, one share of $DRI is trading at $124.49 with a 52-week low of $110.96 and a 52-week high of $164.28. If we look at their one-year price chart, we can see that their price was hovering between 140 to $160 dropping down to under $120 saw another surprise and since then has corrected a little bit. 

The company's market cap is $15.43 billion with a P.E ratio of 16.8. Earnings per share are $7.40 and a decent dividend of 3.89%. Looking at their valuation measures, we see a five-year expected PEG ratio of 1.9 and a price-to-book ratio of 7.02. They have a profit margin of 9.89% with return equity of 38.1%. The company earned revenue of $9.63 billion in the last 12 months.

If we look at their balance sheet they have total cash of four to $20.6 million, and a current ratio of 0.64. The current payout ratio is 59.46%, which is okay. Right now analysts are running it as a 2.1. This means stocks to buy and the average analyst price target is $137.60, which is just about 10% higher than the current price of $124.49. 

So, Darden recently reported a very strong fourth quarter if you compare total revenues to the total revenues of other full-service competitors, including BJs, the Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, and Texas Roadhouse, among many others, Darren actually blows all these restaurant chains out of the water. 

The restaurant company also boasted $2.6 billion in total sales, which is a 14.2% total sales growth and 11.7% same-restaurant sales growth, and a $2.24 diluted net earnings per share. And the reasons for Darden's success are pretty straightforward, the company's massive and still growing, and they know how to effectively control its margins in any market setting. 

If we see the bar graph of Darden versus competitors, we can see that its total revenue is more than double the total revenue of its biggest competitor. This is the result of owning eight Restaurant Brands with Olive Garden easily being the highest performing and most popular of its brands. 

And Darden is continuing to open more restaurants to this day. So it's obviously continuing to grow. Another advantageous strategy that Darden is implementing is avoiding the discounting of their food to ensure adaptability during an inflationary market, and the most important aspect of any business is having solid cash reserves. 

Darren is rich enough in cash to pay substantial dividends to its stockholders. Currently a very nice dollar 21 cents per share. I think Darren has so much going for it and is certainly a stock worth following if you want to get exposed to the restaurant industry. 

#4. NUMBER

The fourth company is EOG Resources ($EOG). EOG Resources is an American energy company that specializes in exploring hydrocarbons, the primary chemicals found in petroleum and gas right now one share of EOG is trading at $111.22 with a 52-week low of $62.81 and a 52. week high of $147.99. So, it is obviously a very big spread. 

If we look at the price chart we can see that one year ago they were trading at about $70 per share is pretty much continually risen for the past year. However, in the last month, we did see a pretty big correction to where it is right now. They have a market cap of $65.143 billion with a P.E ratio of 14.83 and earnings per share of $7.50. And they also pay a good dividend of 2.7%. 

If we look at their valuation measures, we have a five-year expected PEG ratio of 1.41 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.92. The current profit margin is 19.46%. And they have good return equity of 20.69%. In the last 12 months, they've hit revenues of $22.49 billion, carrying total cash of just over $4 billion right now, and they have a current ratio of 1.35. 

Their dividend payout ratio is 26.5%, which is pretty good. $EOG is currently rated as 2 meaning it is a buy and the average analyst price target is $145.34 which is just over 30% higher than the current price of $111.22. So with EOG, the beauty lies in its numbers a very decent metric for assessing the health and potency of a company is its earnings per share. 

Best-Performing Stocks: August 2022

And over the past year, EOG's earnings per share have increased quite significantly and the king is strong growth in profitability for the hydrocarbon company shareholders can expect to make substantial profits while investing in this company and EOG is yet another dividend-paying business. 

The company currently pays out a quarterly dividend amounts of 75 cents more about a 2.77% yield visibility to return cash to shareholders greatly benefits the total shareholder return of the company because the metric of TSR takes into account both price appreciation of company stock as well as dividends paid analysts have calculated the company's TSR to be 53% over the past one year, which is quite a substantial return on investments. 

So, we can say that financially EOG is quite solid. And if we think about the energy boom right now that has led to rising oil and gas prices, we can definitely expect a company like EOG resources to benefit from properties all throughout the US parts of Canada, and within the Caribbean as well as investments interests in Australia. 

This broad influence is the reason why EOG resources have maintained high returns for its stockholders and very soon investors can be potentially reminded of the company's profitability. 

#5. NUMBER

Next up on our list is Dollar Tree ($DLTR). Dollar Tree is one of the most popular discount grocery store chains in America being a fortune 500 company that operates over 15,000 stores throughout 48 US states, as well as Canada. Right now one share of Dollar Tree is trading at $165.36 with a 52-week, love of $84.26 In a 52-week high of $177.19.

If we look at the one-year price chart we can see that one year ago, they are treading just about $100 A share dropped down to $90 a share and shot really high up all the way to its high of about $170. To send we did see a pretty big correction here followed by a very swift recovery. The company's market cap is $37.133 billion with a P E ratio of 24.87 in earnings per share of $6.65.

The five-year expected PEG ratio of 1.09. With a price-to-book ratio of 4.45. The profit margin is a little bit low. It's at 5.57%. But the return equity is great at 19.03%. The company's revenue is $26.74 billion in the last 12 months. They're currently carrying about $1.22 billion in total cash and the current ratio is 1.46. $DLTR is currently rated as a 2.4, meaning it's between a buy and hold.

The average analyst price target is $175.47 which is like six or 7% higher than the current price of $165.36. So inflation has been a widespread problem for retail businesses and Dollar Tree is no exception. The company recently raised the value of its dollar items to $1.25. a strategy the company called breaking the buck instead.

Dollar Tree claims to focus much harder on exceeding customer expectations by offering high-quality products and services. Given these higher prices. We should expect a slight decrease in profitability and sales for the business but what we get instead is a 6.5% increase in consolidated net sales and overall net gross and same-store sales for the first fiscal quarter of 2018 to report at the end of May.

Recently Dollar Tree has been making changes to its executive leadership with the most recent change being Bobby Alfatoony the former executive VP and Chief Information Officer of the Howard Hughes Corporation joining the company as chief information officer. to me, this revision marks the company's sustained and unanimous efforts to grow and improve its business.

especially considering the fact that opportunities formed positions greatly involved work in it. Dollar Tree CEO Michael A. Witynski has explicitly said that these changes will bring fresh new perspectives that will help the company grow in the grand scheme of things Dollar Tree seems to be making a lot of the right moves.

I think we can all agree that a huge change in the market is happening soon with rising inflation rising interest and talks of a recession potentially happening in these circumstances Donald Trump has conducted business that favors profits more than anything, which I think is a huge advantage in the market that's about to be bearish. 

I definitely think that $DLTR is a stock that is at the very least worth keeping on your watch list. 

#6. NUMBER

The last company on our list is Alphabet ($GOOGL). Alphabet is an American multinational tech holding conglomerate that is most known for being the restriction form of Google the largest and most popular search engine in the world. So right now one stock price of Alphabet is trading at $116.32 with a 52, week low of $101.88, and a 52, week high of $151.55. 

If we see the one-year price chart, we can see that one year ago, they were trading between 135 and $150. And then starting in April of this year, we saw a pretty big decrease in the price to where it is right now. They have a market cap of $1.519 trillion with a P.E ratio of 21.27 and earnings per share of $5.47

If we look at the valuation measures, we have a five-year expected PEG ratio of 1.58 and a price-to-book ratio of 5.83. They have great profit margins at 25.89% with a return equity of 29.22%, which is also very strong. The revenue in the last four months is $278.14 billion. 

They're carrying a gigantic amount of cash $125 billion, and they have a current ratio of 2.81. The rating of the Alphabet is1.8, meaning it is a buy, and the average analysts price target is $147.86, which is just under 30% higher than the current price of $116.32. 

So as you guys may have heard Google recently split their stock 20 to one meaning that investor holding one share of Google now owns 20 Google shares. This is usually a very bullish sign for investors as it means that the company is heavily thriving to the point where its shares have become no longer affordable. 

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Splitting the stock reduces the share price while also retaining the market cap of the company. It's very encouraging to see that Alphabet stocks are now much more attainable for retail investors. While the split may indicate strong numbers for the tech company. Alphabet's recent earnings report actually indicates a slow and slightly disappointing second fiscal quarter for the year.

Alphabet announced a 13% revenue growth year over year and a 20% growth in operating income. Now understanding the durability and necessity of Google's platform. I highly doubt this quarter represents the end of Google and the end of Alphabet. Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat explained how Alphabet's astronomical year in 2021 set a very high bar for this year.

It's also worth noting that a turbulent market may lie ahead, and that may make it difficult for many businesses, including the biggest ones from thriving. But as the world becomes far more technological and far more reliant on information technology, I'm very confident that Google is a forever company and I'm sure that many of you guys can agree with me.

I think this slow quarter is an anomaly in the grand scheme of the business. For me the best takeaway from this analysis is that Google just split its stock into 20, while also losing some value throughout the year due to a slow year so far to me, it sounds like alphabet is selling at a pretty big discount. And if the history really does rhyme, now's a great time to get alphabet stock and hold it for a very long time.

Those are my top six stocks for the month of August 2022 and make sure do your own due diligence before investing in anything. This is just an analysis of six different companies not an investment advice. I recommend doing at least one hour of research per company that you're interested in investing in.