As a perilous March looms, these 'fortress' stocks are outpacing the market

Despite the gloomy outlook for the stock market in March, there are still a few "fortress" stocks that can help investors play defense and beat the market.

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There is a strong likelihood that all the major indexes will have a losing month in February. At the time of Monday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.5% for the month as of the close on Monday. The S&P 500 index is down 2.3% in February, while the Nasdaq Composite Index is down 1%, respectively. An increase in January's core personal consumption expenditures index, which was higher than expected, also fueled market concerns about the persistence of inflation, which sparked a broad market decline amid fears of persistent inflation.

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There is a belief among many investors that the bear market is here to stay, and Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson said that March is a month when a resumption of the bear market could occur.

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It was with this in mind, that Trade Algo screened for stocks that were strong enough to withstand market fluctuations and outperform them. According to the following list, stocks that have a beta of less than 1.0 are considered to have low volatility levels. As well as having a dividend yield of over 2% and earnings growth of more than 1% in 2023, they also have a dividend yield of more than 2%. Stocks must also be up more than 3.7% year to date in order to beat the market.

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Cincinnati Financial, M&T Bank, and U.S. Bancorp are just a few regional banks that have solid finances. Piper Sandler upgraded U.S. Bancorp from neutral to overweight, calling it “one of the strongest large regional stories in an uncertain environment.” With a current dividend yield of 4.0%, U.S. Bancorp's earnings in 2023 are forecast to grow by almost 35%. Despite the fact that shares have gained more than 9% in 2023, the stock has fallen 15% in the past 12 months after gaining more than 9% in 2023.

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It is also worth mentioning that the power company Edison International has also made the list, with a dividend yield of 4.3%. Analysts recommend buying Edison International shares, with 43.7% rating the stock as a buy.

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Over the past 12 months, Edison's share price has also shown steady growth, with shares up 7% compared to a year ago. It is interesting to note that Garmin was the only tech company listed on the list, with its earnings per share expected to rise by 2.5%. According to FactSet, Garmin recently reported earnings for the fourth quarter that exceeded analysts' estimates for the period. The shares of the company have rallied by more than 6% in 2023, so far, but they have fallen by almost 11% over the past 12 months.

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There's no doubt that the stock is mixed among the analysts, with only 28.5% of them rating the stock as a buy, and 71.4% rating it as a hold.

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The real estate investment trust UDR has the highest 2023 expected per-share earnings growth of 95.4% out of all the companies on this list. This company's shares have fallen by 21% in the past year, but so far in the current year, the stock has risen about 12%.

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There is also optimism among analysts who cover the stock, with half of them issuing a buy rating on it, and an average price target that has a 9.4% upside from the stock's Monday closing price over the next 12 months.

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