Investors scrambling to find a home for their money amid this year’s market turmoil may want to look at midcap stocks. The S & P Midcap 400 is down 15% year to date, outperforming the large cap S & P 500’s 20% drop in that time. The Russell 2000 , which is made up of small cap stocks, is also lagging the midcap index, losing 19% in 2022. Midcap stocks are also outpacing the large- and small-cap names for the quarter. The S & P Midcap 400 index has jumped more than 9% in the fourth quarter, while the S & P 500 and Russell 2000 are up 8% and 5%, respectively. Midcap stocks are typically those with a market cap ranging between $2 billion and $10 billion. Given this relative outperformance, CNBC Pro set out to find midcap stocks that meet the following criteria: Member of the S & P Midcap 400 Buy ratings from at least 75% of analysts covering them Upside to average analyst price target of 35% or more Covered by at least nine sell-side analysts Telcom name Frontier Communications made the list, with 75% of analysts rating it a buy. The stock is also expected to go up more than 100% from current levels. Frontier shares have struggled in 2022, losing more than 27%. However, the company on Wednesday reported “record-breaking operational results.” Semiconductor stock Wolfspeed also made the list. Analysts on average see the stock rallying more than 40% from current levels, and 75% of those covering the stock rate it a buy. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee upgraded Wolfspeed to overweight from neutral recently, citing “upside and ramp of MVP being in line to better has more permanent implications in relation to separating WOLF from the peer group, which has made capacity announcements in a hurry in recent times in a bid to catch up to WOLF.” Wolfspeed shares are down 32% year to date. GXO , a logistics company, also made the list. The stock has buy ratings from 76.5% of analysts covering it, with the average price target implying upside of 81%. Shares of GXO are down 61%, but Jefferies analyst Stephanie Moore said the company’s contract model will “shine in uncertain times.” “Overall, we see GXO as one of the highest quality names across the global logistics universe with a long-term contract model, blue chip customer base, 95%+ customer retention rate, and record sales pipeline,” said Moore last month. The analyst has a buy rating on the stock.
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