Listed here are stocks with excellent vital signs within the health-care sector

Cautious investors are turning over every rock within the equities market in quest of stocks which have not only high growth potential, but in addition a record of resiliency in downturns.

Yet this dual advantage — a very good offense and a very good defense — really is not that tough to search out. It’s sitting in plain sight, available perennially in health-care stocks, a sector that has sustained relatively light damage on this bear market.

Health care is the “Energizer bunny” sector, with reliable revenues from continuing high demand.

Much of this demand comes from aging baby boomers, greater than 10,000 of whom turn 65 within the U.S. daily. In a nation where about 20% of the gross domestic product is for health care, boomers specifically drive demand for firms across the sector.

This demand scenario is projected to push health-care profits upward over the following few years.

The sector’s EBITDA — or, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — a key measure of earnings strength, grew 5% annually between 2017 and 2019, and remained flat from 2020 through 2021, in response to a study this 12 months by McKinsey & Co. But from 2021 through 2025, the study projects, these earnings will grow 6% annually — a 20% increase, producing a further $31 billion in profits.

Various health-care firms have optimistic growth outlooks for the following few years but, unlike firms in most other sectors, prospects for shares rising aren’t enhanced by a low place to begin resulting from heavy bear market price damage. As of Nov. 8, the passive health-care sector SPDR ETF XLV was down only about 7% from its 52-week high, compared with about 20% for the S&P 500 Index.

Here’s a take a look at six health-care stocks with low-risk fundamentals, reasonable debt, good price-earnings ratios, sanguine growth projections and healthy dividend yields:

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH): Plan enrollments on the nation’s largest health-care management company are still growing from the Reasonably priced Care Act, and the corporate is doing a brisk trade in Medicare Advantage and supplemental plans.Prospects for this business and Optum, the UNH health-care delivery and services subsidiary producing about 60% of the corporate’s revenue, have resulted in average analyst projections for earnings per share growth of about 23% annually over five years.Early this month, shares were trading at about $550, with a mean analyst 12-month forward price goal of $600 and from CFRA Research, $650.CVS Health Corporation (CVS): The nation’s largest pharmacy care company has been specializing in customer engagement lately with a targeted latest array of health services and products.A key a part of this effort is HealthHUBs, where some stores offer customers visits with nurse practitioners for minor problems and screenings — a model that capitalizes on the issue of getting physician’s appointments conveniently. In ramping up this service, the corporate has taken on scant debt; its debt-to-capital ratio is about 0.47%. Analysts just like the potential of the HealthHUB model to drive drug sales and insurance enrollments in Aetna, which CVS owns. Early this month, shares were trading around $102, with a CFRA price goal of $117.Abbott Laboratories (ABT): This company is prone to outperform the market next 12 months due to an modern, diversified product line that is increasing market share. Abbott has high return on equity, nearly 24%, but growth will likely be dampened next 12 months by a projected 4% drop in sales from declining Covid test revenues.Nevertheless, the corporate has a whole lot of upside from expected gains across all operating segments, with innovations corresponding to the Freestyle Libre continuous glucose-monitoring system for diabetics. Abbott is now marketing the same system for non-diabetic athletes.The corporate also has strong projected growth from cardiac drugs. In early November, shares were trading at around $100, with a mean priced goal of $117.