Many growth stocks have seen their valuations plummet over rising interest rates and economic uncertainty. Year to date, the broad-based S&P 500 index has dropped 17%. But it shouldn't be surprising that companies that sell goods in high volume every day are doing just fine.
Shares of Coca-Cola (KO +0.28%) and BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ 1.07%) have significantly outperformed the market year to date. Coke stock is up 3% at the time of writing, while shares of BJ's are up 10%. These are high-quality companies to help investors ride out the storm.
Let's find out a bit more about these two winning stocks.
NYSE: KO
Key Data Points
1. Coca-Cola
There is plenty of talk of recession on Wall Street after two consecutive quarters of declines in gross domestic product -- a closely watched measure of economic growth. It's not a bad idea to consider adding stocks to your portfolio that have a long record of dividend payments and pricing power with their products. Coca-Cola has raised its dividend annually for 60 straight years, making it a Dividend King.
The dividend yield is currently 2.8%, which is nearly twice the yield of the average stock in the S&P 500. Coke pays most of its free cash flow in dividends each year. It's been able to do that while still investing in marketing and operational execution to drive solid revenue gains this year.
Thanks to the brand power of Coca-Cola, the company has been able to pass on inflationary costs to consumers through higher selling prices. In the second quarter, Coke reported organic revenue growth of 16% year over year, with a nice balance between increases in selling prices and unit case volume.
More than 2 billion servings of Coca-Cola products are consumed every day. The company has spent years diversifying its beverage brands and now is a major player across energy drinks, coffee, tea, and water. Despite the household name recognition of the brand, the company still commands less than 50% of the soft drink market. Its ability to expand beyond soft drinks and leverage its worldwide distribution network should keep Coca-Cola growing for a long time.
NYSE: BJ
Key Data Points
2. BJ's Wholesale Club
Another great stock to consider is the discount warehouse chain BJ's Wholesale. The inflationary environment has caused more people to go shopping for value, and that is great news for BJ's. Total club sales grew nearly 20% year over year in the most recent quarter, driven by comparable club sales of 7.6% excluding gasoline.
BJ's is winning new members with its relentless focus on delivering the best value. Higher gas prices are driving more traffic to BJ's warehouse stores, which is boosting the company's profits. Adjusted earnings per share were up 29% year over year last quarter. The market is not giving BJ's much credit for this performance, which leaves the shares looking very attractive at current valuation levels.
BJ's trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20.4 -- a significant discount to industry peer Costco Wholesale's multiple of 35. BJ's offers investors more growth, with more to come.
Management sees opportunities to further expand BJ's private-label products and open more clubs. Current plans call for 11 new club openings this year. This represents an acceleration over BJ's previous expansions, as new clubs continue to see improved performance.
