Move Over Dollar General, There’s a New Top Dog in Town

A few times a week, I open the Weiss Ratings stock screener and take a quick look at the top-rated stocks overall. Then I’ll take a look at a specific sector or industry, usually something that I’ve been reading in the news or related to some research rabbit hole that I’ve gone down.

And I want to take time today to let you know about what I’ve found this week.

For the majority of the last six months, I’ve gotten accustomed to seeing Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) sitting at the top of the stock screener list. The company maintained an “A”-range rating from April 30 last year all the way up until Jan. 4.

During that time, there were only a handful of companies that would touch the “A” range.

One such company is Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (NYSE: BAH). It would pop up in the “A” range for a day or two, but just couldn’t seem to hold it.

Now, though, the tables have turned. Booz Allen Hamilton seems to be holding its “A-” rating, while Dollar General is sitting at a “B+”.

I’ve mentioned Booz Allen Hamilton before. It’s a holding corporation that provides management and technology consulting to clients all over the world. The company invests in cybersecurity, analytics, digital solutions and consulting to build value in order to empower those clients.

Companies everywhere have needed to pivot and change services. Booz Allen Hamilton has had the resources to help with that. In turn, shares are up 21% over the past year and 105% over the past two years.

Since Booz Allen Hamilton was now sitting at the top of the ratings, I decided to take a look at what other companies had top ratings in the software and services industry.

This industry includes businesses concerned with the development, maintenance and publication of software products. With the explosion of remote services and cloud-based software, it’s not surprising that there are 38 stocks in the industry with a buy rating.

Right after Booz Allen Hamilton, we’ve got EPAM Systems Inc. (NYSE: EPAM). This is another consulting company.

EPAM Systems has over two decades of commercial software product engineering expertise. It focuses on designing and building models to help its clients bring their innovations to market in the most efficient way possible. Shares are up 51% over the past year.

Last, but not least, we have Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) coming in third on the list. This household name has its hands in everything from personal computing to cloud services to gaming.

Again, these are all categories that have seen major growth during 2020. In turn, shares are up 31% over the past year.

The last year has been a big year for tech companies. It’s not that we didn’t think technology was important, but COVID was the catalyst that made many companies rely on technology to stay connected and afloat.

This acceleration will prove to set 2021 up to be an even more momentous year for technology.

This could finally be the year that we see true 5G integration. That hardware and framework will allow for the true potential of many new technologies and software.

Investors should prepare their portfolios now.

Best wishes,

Kelly