The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up around 14% year to date, which isn’t too shabby given what’s happening outside U.S. borders.
Adding to this bit of sunshine is the fact the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book came out yesterday and also said the U.S. economy is doing all right. That was reinforced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell saying the same thing.
It seems that the U.S. is holding the weak economic conditions affecting most other industrialized nations at bay — for now.
One of the best things about this is it means foreign funds flood into the U.S. markets — whether stocks or bonds — for safety. That helps keeps the market going and also helps keeps business values rising.
The 7 industrial stocks to buy now featured below are all A-rated stocks that are focused on the U.S. economy. They each have their own unique stories but they all offer real opportunities now and in the future.
Casella Waste (CWST)
Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) started in Vermont in the mid-1970s, and has grown across the Northeast. From 2 brothers in a pickup truck to a full-service waste company that has a market cap of $2 billion, CWST has done a great job managing growth and building its operations.
And now with China and other Asian nations not accepting U.S. recycling, the waste companies have become even more important to the U.S. economy. What’s more, CWST is a perfect sized takeover target for one of the big, national waste companies, which would likely mean a sale at a big premium.
CWST stock is up nearly 70% year to date and 50% over the past year, which shows that the waste sector, which usually isn’t that dynamic, is in the midst of evolution.
TopBuild (BLD)
TopBuild Corp (NYSE:BLD) was spun off by parent Masco (NYSE:MAS) in 2015. MAS is one of the nation’s leading builders of products for the home improvement and new home construction market.
BLD focuses on installing insulation and distributing insulation and building materials to new home construction sites across the U.S. It has a 40% share of products for new housing starts and installs and distributes insulation from over 275 branches.
Given the drop in U.S. interest rates in 2019 and the relative health of the U.S. consumer, this has been an ideal time for builders to build. And that’s certainly reflected in BLD stock’s price — it’s gained 107% year to date and is up 48% in the past 12 months. What’s more, the stock’s trailing PE is still below 19.
As long as the economy stays on track, BLD has plenty of growth left.
Exponent (EXPO)
Exponent (NASDAQ:EXPO) is another quiet company that has been around doing its work and growing well since 1989.
In the past 3 years the stock is up nearly 180%, which is a pretty nice clip for a company that focuses on engineering, scientific, environmental and health consulting services for corporations, insurance carriers, governments and the like.
It built its reputation on investigating accidents and failures to determine their causes, but now is increasingly involved in dealing with regulatory, health and environmental issues as well.
EXPO stock is up nearly 40% year to date and 32% in the past 12 months. As companies expand their footprint, so will EXPO.
Tetra Tech (TTEK)
Tetra Tech Inc (NASDAQ: TTEK) is another consulting and engineering firm that focuses on water, environment, infrastructure, resource management and international development services.
Global operations may be a hindrance here since most global economies are slowing, and a strong U.S. dollar means that revenues received from overseas projects are worth less when converted back into dollars.
But that doesn’t mean TTEK doesn’t have a solid book of business in North America. It has a long reputation of working in both Canada and the U.S. on large private and government projects.
Its unique focus on disaster recovery as well as sustainable building and infrastructure management makes it a perfect fit for companies’ newest challenges.
TTEK stock is up 58% year to date and 17% in the past 12 months.
Mastec (MTZ)
Mastec (NYSE:MTZ) has been around for 90 years and yet it hardly ever pops up on the radar of most investors, much less many citizens.
But in the industries it’s involved in, it’s a well-known company that has been at the heart of U.S. infrastructure for those 9 decades. And bear in mind, when a company that works in the infrastructure business has managed to survive and grow during good times and bad, that makes for a reassuring track record of accomplishment.
From mobile towers to oil and gas pipelines, to power generation to industrial projects like bridges and roads, MTZ continues to be a major force.
Up 57% year to date and 55% in the past 12 months, MTZ will be a player in U.S. expansion moving forward.
Pembina Pipeline (PBA)
Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE: PBA) is energy pipeline company that has most of its operations in the heart of Canada’s energy patch in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
But its reach also takes its oil and gas products to the U.S. and helps move energy from the Bakken Shale — which covers parts of Canada, Montana and North Dakota — into the U.S. It even operates a pipeline that delivers energy into Chicago.
The point is, PBA is part of the shale revolution and Canada hasn’t really even tapped its reserves yet. PBA got its start moving oil sands output to market. And that’s a tough job. Regular oil and gas is simple stuff comparatively speaking.
Also, as a midstream player, it makes its money off demand rather than the price of energy. With Iranian oil offline, demand is growing for alternative sources and PBA is a beneficiary.
Up nearly 25% year to date and 11% in the last year, PBA also has a very nice 4.9% dividend.
Waste Management (WM)
Waste Management Inc (NYSE:WM) is the nation’s largest environmental services provider, or in layman’s terms, the largest waste disposal company in the U.S.
It formally started in 1968 and since then, has expanded its services across the nation and beyond. Its roots go back even further, to a Dutch immigrant who started with a wagon in Chicago in 1893, hauling trash from neighborhoods for a small fee.
It not only manages all aspects of commercial and consumer waste but also runs many of the disposal and recycling sites. It even has some landfills where it generates electricity from the off-gassing of the landfills.
Its size makes it a formidable competitor in the markets it enters and now that Asia is not taking a significant amount of U.S. recycling, it runs many of the facilities that other companies use to dispose of their waste.
The stock is up 35% year to date and 30% in the past year. It also has a very solid 1.7% dividend. This business is about as reliable and necessary as they come.
Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of four investing newsletters: Growth Investor, Breakthrough Stocks, Accelerated Profits and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Growth Investor, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.