Weekly Investor – June 21, 2021
S&P Falls for the Week
The S&P 500® Index turned in its worst week since February, falling 1.9%. The index had a positive day on Monday, hitting an all-time high, but declined for the remainder of the week. The downward pressure came as comments from the Federal Reserve negatively surprised investors. Last Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting indicated that some members see a minimum of two rate hikes by the end of 2023. This timeframe is sooner than investors had expected, although Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that tapering would be “orderly, methodical, and transparent” during his press conference. Pressure on equities continued on Friday as St. Louis Fed President Bullard added further hawkish comments related to discussions of reducing bond buying by the Fed.
Materials, Financials and Energy stocks felt the brunt of the pain last week. Materials stocks Freeport-McMoRan Inc., The Mosaic Company and Nucor Corporation, were the three worst-performing stocks in the index, falling -14.4%, -13.5% and -12.7%, respectively. Earnings announcements this week include CarMax, Inc., Carnival Corporation & plc, Darden Restaurants, Inc., FedEx Corporation and NIKE, Inc.
The S&P 500 Index was down 1.9% for the week. Its top-performing sectors were Technology (0.1%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.1%), while the bottom-performing sectors were Financials (-6.2%) and Basic Materials (-6.3%). In the fixed-income market, the 10-year Treasury yield was even, ending at 1.5%.
We continue to seek companies that reflect our Change-BasedSM investment approach.
Change Based Investment
Post Holdings, Inc. is a consumer packaged goods company that operates in the United States and internationally. The company was founded in 1897 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company has many recognizable brands such as Grape-Nuts, Weetabix, Bob Evans Farms and Raisin Bran.
We think highly of Post’s management team and its ability to drive value creation for shareholders. The management team has successfully executed a number of acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures which have boosted returns to the company. While Post’s food service segment is negatively affected by COVID-19, we believe the company’s focus on driving returns makes Post a core holding for Argent’s Change-BasedSM investment approach for long-term investors.
Top 5 Equity Holdings
Large Cap Growth
| Alphabet, Inc.(Google) | 7.7% |
| Target Corporation | 6.7% |
| Apple, Inc. | 6.0% |
| Danaher Corporation | 5.1% |
| Mastercard Incorporated | 4.8% |
Small Cap Core
| Fortinet, Inc. | 4.8% |
| Medpace Holdings, Inc. | 4.5% |
| OneMain Holdings, Inc. | 4.3% |
| Telos Corporation | 3.3% |
| Select Medical Holdings | 3.3% |
Dividend Select
| Target Corporation | 7.7% |
| Microsoft Corporation | 5.9% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 5.4% |
| Life Storage, Inc. | 4.1% |
| Eaton Corporation Plc | 3.9% |
Mid Cap
| Zebra Technologies Corp. | 4.4% |
| Marvell Technology, Inc. | 3.9% |
| CDW Corporation | 3.9% |
| Cintas Corporation | 3.8% |
| Builders FirstSource, Inc. | 3.1% |
This newsletter presents selected recommendations from portfolio managers of Argent Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Opinions reflect the portfolio manager’s judgment on the date above and are subject to change. A list of stocks recommended by Argent is available upon request. You should not assume that these recommendations are or will be profitable. In the course of it’s business, Argent’s client accounts may be buying and selling these stocks.
