12 S&P 500 Stocks Just Touched 52-Week Lows
Even established companies are not immune to new lows, raising questions about value versus damage.
Health Care Equipment placed two names on today’s list of new market lows. As of Friday, September 11, 12 S&P 500 stocks are trading at their 52-week lows. The largest company on the list is McDonald’s (MCD), with a market value of about $179.1 billion.
When a company’s stock price hits a new low while its business continues to grow, which signal is telling the truth?
Every Name On The List
Here are all 12 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCD | $179.1 Bil | -0.2% | -2.7% | -7.8% | -15.3% |
| TJX | $139.4 Bil | -0.3% | -4.7% | -17.2% | -8.8% |
| AON | $64.5 Bil | -1.7% | -7.4% | -14.1% | -15.7% |
| AZO | $47.4 Bil | -0.2% | -3.1% | -5.6% | -32.4% |
| LHX | $45.7 Bil | -1.1% | -5.9% | -15.1% | -9.4% |
| IDXX | $39.8 Bil | -0.4% | -4.6% | -11.5% | -20.9% |
| CMS | $20.8 Bil | -0.8% | -2.1% | -4.1% | -2.8% |
| LII | $12.7 Bil | -1.8% | -5.2% | -13.0% | -33.8% |
| COO | $10.5 Bil | -0.5% | -23.7% | -29.7% | -20.3% |
| PODD | $9.1 Bil | -2.0% | -12.4% | -9.0% | -60.9% |
| PNR | $9.1 Bil | -0.3% | -5.7% | -14.0% | -47.6% |
| WYNN | $9.0 Bil | -0.8% | -4.2% | -14.6% | -28.0% |
The largest names show growth despite their stock slides.
McDonald’s (MCD) has declined 7.8% over the last month. Yet the company trades at 20.4 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 6.3% over the last twelve months, and its free cash flow yield is 4.3%.
The list’s second-largest name, TJX Companies (TJX), tells a similar story, with a one-month stock decline of 17.2%. It trades at 22.9 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 7.7% over the last twelve months, and its free cash flow yield is 4.2%.
Is a new low a warning sign or an entry point?
A 52-week-low list is not an automatic buy signal. Each name represents one of two things: a fundamentally damaged business whose stock price is reflecting reality, or a solid business that has simply been marked down by the market.
The disciplined move is to investigate the business first. A low price on a broken company is no bargain.
If any of these names tempt you, resist buying on price alone. Our Buy the Dip screen asks the follow-up question that matters: which marked-down stocks still have the growth and cash generation to recover.
Catching Falling Prices Is A Skill. Not Needing To Is A Strategy
Buying stocks at 52-week lows works brilliantly on the survivors and painfully on the rest, and nobody rings a bell to tell you which is which. The honest answer for most investors is to stop needing that call.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio holds roughly 30 businesses selected for the traits that make recoveries likely in the first place: consistent cash generation, strong margins, resilient balance sheets. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Watch the low list for information; let a disciplined basket do the buying.