6 'Defensive-Growth' Blue-Chip Stocks for the New Year

If you're concerned about market volatility but refuse to sit on the sidelines, these six growth stock stalwarts should provide both safety and capital appreciation for 2016.
By John Persinos ,

Among the most attractive opportunities in today's choppy and still overbought stock market are blue-chips that will benefit from an economic recovery but also have the proven ability to maintain stable footing when the broader market falls.

The following six stocks may lack sex appeal, but they provide safety during market volatility while helping you generate long-term growth. They're all still good buys at decent valuations.

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1. FleetCor Technologies (FLT) - Get Report is the world's leading provider of fleet cards and related payment processes for companies and government entities in 21 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia. Economic recovery is propelling the trucking industry, which in turn lifts FleetCor.

FleetCor's core product is a special purpose business charge card for the commercial fuel industry. About 90% of the company's revenue derives from the sale of these cards.

Fleet cards eliminate the need for cash carrying, increasing the safety of drivers. The elimination of cash also helps prevent fraudulent transactions at a fleet owner or manager's expense.

In addition to fleet cards, the company sells a wide variety of customized fleet and lodging payment programs, as well as cards to buy fuel and lodging at participating locations.

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2. Boeing (BA) - Get Report is the world's largest manufacturer of aircraft. The company will benefit from commercial aviation's resurgence; it's also a play on persistent demand for military aircraft.

Boeing serves as a play on not just greater passenger ticket sales but also persistent demand for military aircraft. Despite budgetary austerity in the U.S. and Europe, the U.S. continues to generate more foreign sales of weapons systems than any other nation on earth. This fact won't change, despite Pentagon cutbacks.

One of America's fastest-growing military export niches is aircraft. Fixed-wing combat airplanes account for one-third of all global arms transfers, with U.S.-based manufacturers such as Boeing topping the list of sellers.

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3. United Technologiesundefined is a diversified company that develops and provides high-technology products and services to the construction and aerospace industries, two sectors that are markedly improving.

United Technologies is a major player in the aerospace industry, a sector now in the ascendancy. However, the company also enjoys a highly diversified product portfolio that protects it from the ebbs and flows of its cyclical businesses.

United Technologies isn't just a proxy for the broader markets, as is often the case with industrial companies of this size. This behemoth also develops "disruptive technologies" in targeted niches that lay the groundwork for market-beating growth.

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4. Whirlpool  (WHR) - Get Report is the largest home appliance manufacturer in the world. A rebounding housing market combined with the imminent holiday shopping frenzy should further boost demand for Whirlpool's big-ticket household items.

Whirlpool manufactures and markets home appliances worldwide, including laundry machines, refrigerators and freezers, air conditioners, dishwashers, and mixers. The company's brands grace every big-box retail store such as Walmart: Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Roper, Estate, Admiral, Gladiator and many others.

Whirlpool is benefiting from the economic recovery and further leveraging growth by cutting costs, streamlining its supply chain and targeting emerging markets.

In the U.S., consumer spending accounts for about 70% of gross domestic product, providing the growth engine that has pulled the country's economy out of most downturns for the past seven decades. This spending should remain robust for the rest of this year and into 2016, lifting Whirlpool stock.

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5. Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RYCEY) is one of the largest makers of aircraft engines in the world. This company will benefit from a brimming order book and the movement toward "green" aviation.

As a large transnational manufacturer, Rolls-Royce has the wherewithal to maintain healthy and sustained research and development into new engine technologies, a sector with high barriers to entry.

Engine researchers in Europe and the U.S. are focusing on next-generation technology to propel aircraft, but Rolls-Royce is a step ahead of the game. The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 turbofan engine, which powers the composite-built Boeing 787 airliner, already boasts advances in green innovations.

In addition to being the launch engine for the 787, a huge and strategically important end user, the Trent has been phenomenally successful throughout the aviation industry. It also powers the A380 and A350, widely flown airliners built by Boeing's archrival Airbus, and a host of other popular aircraft. The Trent 1000 commands a 40% overall share in its markets.

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6. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Report is a health care giant that makes well-known, over-the-counter drugs, as well as medical devices.

Johnson & Johnson's consumer segment makes the products that are familiar to anyone who visits their local retail pharmacy, including over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol, as well as nonmedicinal items such as Listerine mouthwash and Neutrogena skin care lotion.

The company's medical devices and diagnostics division produces a range of products that are mainly used by health care professionals in the fields of orthopedics, surgery, vision care, diabetes care, infection prevention, diagnostics and more.

Johnson & Johnson is a trusted brand, long considered the "gold standard" of corporate governance. With a full product pipeline and recent regulatory approvals under its belt, Johnson & Johnson stock should soar in 2016.

The above well-capitalized companies boast strong balance sheets, astute management and reasonable valuations. They also make products that their customers will always need, regardless of the market's vicissitudes. These disaster-resistant stocks give you the best of both worlds: growth and peace of mind.

If you're worried about the stock market but still want to play in the game, the above stocks are great defensive plays on growth. But for a list of bad stocks that stand on the precipice of disaster, click here. If you own any of these dangerous equities, dump them immediately before you lose your shirt.

John Persinos is editorial manager and investment analyst at Investing Daily. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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