These are the 20 worst-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2020 — analysts see double-digit rebounds for five of them in 2021
By Philip van Doorn, MarketWatch
The action is concentrated in one sector
(Updates story with year-end closing prices and consensus price targets.)
During the stock market's March plunge, it may have been difficult for you to expect 2020 to end up as a good year for stocks, but incredibly low interest rates from the Federal Reserve, unprecedented federal spending to support the economy and investors' enthusiasm for technology stocks did just that.
While many stocks did well, 198 of the S&P 500 Index's components lost ground in 2020. Further down in this article, you'll find a list of the 20 worst-performing S&P stocks. While Wall Street analysts remain downbeat on some of them for 2021, they foresee a significant recovery for others -- particularly in one industry.
Here's how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 performed in 2020, as the benchmark rose 16.3%:
Index Price change - 2020
Information Technology 42.2%
Consumer Discretionary 32.1%
Communication Services 22.2%
Materials 18.1%
Health Care 11.4%
Industrials 9.0%
Consumer Staples 7.6%
Utilities -2.8%
Financials -4.1%
Real Estate -5.2%
Energy -37.3%
Source: FactSet
The coronavirus recession caused demand for oil to plummet, as the cruise industry has shut down and commercial air flights have plummeted. But production cuts have improved the balance between supply and demand. Here's a chart showing continuous front-month futures quotes for West Texas crude oil this year:
That's a remarkable recovery; however, WTI still fell 21% in 2020. This explains why energy-sector companies make up more than half of the year's list of the 20 worst-performing S&P 500 stocks through Dec. 28:
Company Ticker Industry Price change - 2020
Occidental Petroleum Corp. US:OXY Oil & Gas Production -58%
Carnival Corp. US:CCL Hotels/Resorts/Cruiselines -57%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. US:NCLH Hotels/Resorts/Cruiselines -56%
TechnipFMC PLC US:FTI Oilfield Services/Equipment -56%
United Airlines Holdings Inc. US:UAL Airlines -51%
Marathon Oil Corp. US:MRO Oil & Gas Production -51%
Oneok Inc. US:OKE Oil & Gas Pipelines -49%
HollyFrontier Corp. US:HFC Oil Refining/Marketing -49%
Diamondback Energy Inc. US:FANG Oil & Gas Production -48%
Schlumberger NV US:SLB Oilfield Services/Equipment -46%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. US:NOV Oilfield Services/Equipment -45%
American Airlines Group Inc. US:AAL Airlines -45%
Apache Corp. US:APA Oil & Gas Production -45%
Royal Caribbean Group US:RCL Hotels/Resorts/Cruiselines -44%
Wells Fargo & Company US:WFC Major Banks -44%
Vornado Realty Trust US:VNO Real Estate Investment Trusts -44%
Simon Property Group Inc. US:SPG Real Estate Investment Trusts -43%
Exxon Mobil Corp. US:XOM Integrated Oil -41%
EOG Resources Inc. US:EOG Oil & Gas Production -40%
Valero Energy Corp. US:VLO Oil Refining/Marketing -40%
Source: FactSet
Scroll the table to see all the data.
You can click on the tickers for more about each company, including news coverage, charts, financial data and price ratios.
Here's a summary of Wall Street analysts' opinions about these stocks:
Company Ticker Share 'buy' ratings Share neutral ratings Share 'sell' ratings Closing price - Dec. 31 Consensus price target Implied 12-month upside potential
Occidental Petroleum Corp. US:OXY 17% 66% 17% $17.31 $16.73 -3%
Carnival Corp. US:CCL 11% 68% 21% $21.66 $17.95 -17%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. US:NCLH 35% 59% 6% $25.43 $22.46 -12%
TechnipFMC PLC US:FTI 70% 23% 7% $9.40 $10.90 16%
United Airlines Holdings Inc. US:UAL 39% 44% 17% $43.25 $46.29 7%
Marathon Oil Corp. US:MRO 33% 54% 13% $6.67 $7.78 17%
Oneok Inc. US:OKE 32% 56% 12% $38.38 $37.30 -3%
HollyFrontier Corp. US:HFC 36% 53% 11% $25.85 $29.44 14%
Diamondback Energy Inc. US:FANG 90% 10% 0% $48.40 $60.03 24%
Schlumberger NV US:SLB 70% 27% 3% $21.83 $24.84 14%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. US:NOV 44% 40% 16% $13.73 $13.42 -2%
American Airlines Group Inc. US:AAL 18% 27% 55% $15.77 $11.36 -28%
Apache Corp. US:APA 39% 58% 3% $14.19 $16.00 13%
Royal Caribbean Group US:RCL 33% 50% 17% $74.69 $67.54 -10%
Wells Fargo & Company US:WFC 48% 48% 4% $30.18 $33.89 12%
Vornado Realty Trust US:VNO 23% 46% 31% $37.34 $41.55 11%
Simon Property Group Inc. US:SPG 35% 65% 0% $85.28 $92.00 8%
Exxon Mobil Corp. US:XOM 27% 61% 12% $41.22 $48.50 18%
EOG Resources Inc. US:EOG 74% 26% 0% $49.87 $63.47 27%
Valero Energy Corp. US:VLO 91% 4% 5% $56.57 $64.11 13%
Source: FactSet
So five of these companies have majority "buy" ratings, with analysts expecting the shares to rise by double digits over the next year. All are involved in oil or natural gas production or refining.
As always, if you see any stocks of interests, it's important to do your own research to form your own opinion about a company's prospects.
For more about 2020, click here for a list of this year's best-performing stocks (link) in the U.S. and here for a list of big winners that aren't yet included (link) in the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100 indexes.
Don't miss:20 of analysts' favorite large-cap stocks for 2021, including GM, Facebook and Salesforce (link)
-Philip van Doorn; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-02-21 0816ET
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.