Many investors have given up energy stocks for dead, as the supply glut during the pandemic crushed oil prices. But with the hope that coronavirus vaccines will help quell the pandemic in 2021, this is the time to bid for a recovery play as energy demand strengthens.
Investors already jumped aboard the oil-recovery bandwagon last week, when the S&P 500 energy sector rose 27.5%, while the broader S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.46% was up 2.3%.Even after last week’s bounce, the energy sector is this year’s worst performer, by a wide margin: Altfest called BP “one of the lower-cost oil producers with a strong balance sheet” and said the company’s cost-cutting and asset sales mean “you should be able to enjoy that 6% dividend without as much concern about [another] dividend cut.”The other two companies Altfest discussed haven’t cut their dividends this year. In fact, both are included in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index SP50DIV, -2.