It's time to step back into health-care stocks, according to Wolfe Research. The sector was one of the worst performing over the past month, pulling back over 4% from September to October, technical analyst Rob Ginsberg wrote in a note on Tuesday. "As evidenced by XLV [Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund], price is back through the 50 day [moving average] on this relief rally," he said.
"Not yet overbought, it looks to us like the early innings of a reacceleration back towards the highs. If this is the case, stocks across the sector should reap the benefit." XLV YTD mountain Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund year to date On top of that rally is the added benefit of dividend payouts on many health care stocks.
With that in mind, CNBC Pro screened for stocks in the S & P 500 health-care sector that had a dividend yield of 1.5% or more, which is higher than the S & P 500 yield. At least 51% of the Wall Street analysts who cover each stock rates it a buy, according to FactSet data.
Investors can nab a 1.9% dividend yield with Abbott Laboratories , which manufactures and sells pharmaceutical, diagnostic and nutritional products, as well as medical devices. About 55% of analysts covering the stock rate it a buy and it has 11% upside to the average price target, per FactSet.
On Wednesday, Abbott delivered an earnings and revenue beat for its third quarter. The company also raised the bottom end of its full-year earnings-per-share guidance to between $4.64 and $4.
70 a share, from a.