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Defensive and “green” penny stock lists highlight low correlation focus
Benzinga’s defensive-stock screen targets names with beta at or below 0.5 versus SPY, alongside positive profitability and earnings and revenue growth.
Benzinga compiled lists of so called defensive stocks and “green” penny stocks, framing both strategies around portfolio behavior versus the broader market benchmark. The site points to the S&P 500 as the U.S. stock market barometer and highlights the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, SPY, as the benchmark investors use for correlation and risk comparisons.
For the defensive set, the screen described by Benzinga focuses on stocks with a low correlation to SPY, using beta as the key metric. It specifies that the defensive stocks have a beta of 0.50 or under compared with SPY, and that they also show “sound fundamentals,” including positive return on equity, return on assets, return on investment, and gross, operating and net margins.
Benzinga adds that the same defensive candidates have positive historical earnings and revenue growth, combining quality measures with lower than average beta as potential defensive characteristics. The article also provides sector context for individual examples, including Procter and Gamble’s consumer defensive business across segments such as beauty, grooming, healthcare, fabric and home care, and baby and family care, and Merck’s healthcare operations spanning pharmaceuticals and animal care.
A separate Benzinga piece highlights “green” penny stocks for investors concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, but the provided material only sets up that theme and does not include additional screened-company details in the excerpt.
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