June 25, 2011 | In: Lists

Top 100 Stocks With Highest Beta

In my article about negative betas, I have briefly explained what a beta, in the stock market, is. In short, the beta is the movement of the stock with respect to the stock market. So the higher the beta is, the better (in theory) the stock is. On the short term, a beta is an excellent measurement that can be used to assess stocks, and a high beta is considered to be a characteristic of a good stock (but also on the short term, that’s why the beta was mentioned in that article).

I have decided to put a list with the top 100 stocks with the highest beta, listed in both the NASDAQ and the NYSE. The data is gathered using both Google Finance and Yahoo Finance (so it’s pretty accurate). No PINK or OTC stocks are listed below.

Rank Company Stock Symbol Beta Volume Last Trade
1 Cell Therapeutics CTIC 5.78 2365040 1.99
2 China Eastern Airlines CEA 5.08 35789 21.44
3 Sunrise Senior SRZ 5.04 1242970 8.90
4 Pier 1 Imports PIR 4.62 2210820 11.39
5 Beazer Homes USA BZH 4.39 1859100 3.32
6 Human Genome Sciences HGSI 4.22 2207280 24.91
7 Bank of Ireland IRE 4.21 4223450 1.11
8 LodgeNet Interactive LNET 4.21 190465 3.28
9 Arbor Realty Trust ABR 3.95 65528 4.60
10 Kemet Corporation KEM 3.94 535054 13.92
11 Ruby Tuesday RT 3.87 948728 10.55
12 Select Comfort SCSS 3.87 1078480 17.04
13 Dollar Thrifty DTG 3.82 668788 73.07
14 MGM Resorts MGM 3.82 21022900 12.20
15 Perfumania Holdings PERF 3.78 1969 15.89
16 General Growth Properties GGP 3.77 4886770 16.11
17 Entegris, Inc. ENTG 3.69 1447370 9.78
18 Unisys Corporation UIS 3.68 546988 24.37
19 Oclaro, Inc. OCLR 3.67 1626190 6.04
20 American International Group AIG 3.66 12736900 28.45
21 Sonic Automotive SAH 3.66 707483 13.94
22 Dendreon Corporation DNDN 3.61 3264060 38.65
23 Newcastle Investment NCT 3.6 1466320 5.55
24 FelCor Lodging Trust FCH 3.56 1530380 5.21
25 Zanett Inc. ZANE 3.56 29298 0.65
26 Phoenix Companies PNX 3.55 482012 2.32
27 Charming Shoppes, CHRS 3.51 1373640 3.94
28 Boise Inc BZ 3.5 2369370 7.08
29 Century Aluminum CENX 3.46 1908520 14.22
30 PMI Group PMI 3.42 4536310 1.22
31 Meritor, Inc. MTOR 3.42 1640210 14.90
32 TRW Automotive TRW 3.41 1373520 57.02
33 Ion Geophysical IO 3.38 1911970 8.18
34 CBL & Associates CBL 3.36 1469200 17.61
35 Keryx Biopharmaceuticals KERX 3.35 1447740 4.62
36 Belo Corporation BLC 3.34 1173620 7.25
37 Commercial Vehicle Group CVGI 3.34 185477 13.32
38 Ferro Corporation FOE 3.31 1058710 12.31
39 Sify Technologies SIFY 3.31 2850520 4.39
40 Office Depot ODP 3.3 8625500 4.17
41 Tenneco Inc. TEN 3.28 860658 42.10
42 Casual Male Retail Group CMRG 3.27 188851 4.12
43 Valassis Communications VCI 3.25 769034 28.34
44 McClatchy Company MNI 3.24 1149540 2.63
45 Miller Energy MILL 3.23 358458 6.55
46 Rediff.com India REDF 3.22 1921300 8.90
47 Zale Corporation ZLC 3.21 732171 5.67
48 Photronics, Inc. PLAB 3.16 988545 8.07
49 Genworth Financial GNW 3.14 5488550 9.95
50 National Financial Partners NFP 3.13 278800 11.51
51 Central European Media Ent. CETV 3.11 344022 19.16
52 Journal Communications JRN 3.1 158677 5.00
53 Sanmina-SCI SANM 3.07 866177 9.26
54 MarineMax, Inc. HZO 3.06 99635 8.42
55 Brunswick Corporation BC 3.04 1564950 19.01
56 Hartford Financial HIG 3.04 4193790 24.72
57 LIN TV TVL 3.04 161878 4.62
58 MGIC Investment MTG 3.04 4344870 6.04
59 Marshall Edwards MSHL 3.04 57994 0.9999
60 Jones Group, Inc. JNY 3.01 1520990 10.37
61 Protective Life PL 2.98 581385 21.89
62 Carmike Cinemas CKEC 2.98 143155 6.99
63 Nautilus, Inc. NLS 2.97 160805 1.64
64 Oriental Financial OFG 2.96 201227 11.57
65 RAIT Financial Trust RAS 2.95 2223330 2.09
66 Hovnanian Enterprises HOV 2.95 2093280 2.00
67 Entravision Communication EVC 2.94 121128 1.83
68 Greenbrier Companies GBX 2.94 603372 19.80
69 Finisar Corporation FNSR 2.94 4213110 16.06
70 Renesola Ltd. SOL 2.93 3860360 5.04
71 Radian Group Inc. RDN 2.92 3847030 3.92
72 Royal Caribbean RCL 2.92 3093060 36.21
73 Gray Communication GTN 2.91 319622 2.44
74 MGP Ingredients MGPI 2.91 33095 8.25
75 Principal Financial PFG 2.9 2196410 29.01
76 Asbury Automotive ABG 2.89 399402 17.31
77 Powerwave Technologies PWAV 2.88 2578330 2.84
78 ValueVision Media VVTV 2.86 599638 7.93
79 iStar Financial SFI 2.85 1039800 7.42
80 BioLase Technologies BLTI 2.85 697158 5.52
81 Brigham Exploration BEXP 2.85 3303960 26.89
82 Ashland Inc. ASH 2.82 862488 62.29
83 Tuesday Morning TUES 2.82 219720 4.35
84 A.H. Belo AHC 2.8 89065 7.49
85 ING Group ING 2.77 2060240 11.12
86 Allied Irish Bank AIB 2.76 1360070 2.13
87 LaSalle Hotel LHO 2.76 797794 25.25
88 Lee Enterprises LEE 2.76 1209340 0.8168
89 Orient-Express Hotel OEH 2.75 608903 10.04
90 Textron Inc. TXT 2.75 4006700 22.36
91 GRUMA GMK 2.74 17362 7.60
92 Gaylord Entertainment GET 2.73 617209 29.25
93 Gramercy Capital GKK 2.73 619360 3.02
94 Dynavax Technologies DVAX 2.73 857291 2.73
95 Goodyear GT 2.72 7141400 15.88
96 ATP Oil & Gas ATPG 2.71 1410100 14.67
97 Impac Mortgage Holdings IMH 2.69 22508 2.95
98 Louisiana-Pacific LPX 2.69 2198770 8.14
99 Manitowoc Company MTW 2.69 2617950 15.34
100 Hudson Highland HHGP 2.69 90033 5.01

By looking at the above list, we remark 2 things:

– The stock with the highest beta is a pharmaceutical stock. In my opinion, the pharmaceuticals industry is one with a very high volatility when it comes to stocks.
– The stock with the second highest beta is in fact the stock of a Chinese company. I’m wondering if with all the current attacks on Chinese listed companies in the US markets this stock will remain at the top of the list.

Note: The above data is only valid at the time of publishing. Betas, as with everything else in the stock market, are not constants.

3 Responses to Top 100 Stocks With Highest Beta

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Rich M

October 7th, 2011 at 3:35 am

I must comment that Beta is not an indicator of intrinsic stock quality. That is, it does not make a stock “good” (or “bad”, for that matter). Beta is simply a measure of a stock’s historical sensitivity to the fluctuations of a market proxy (most commonly the S&P500). While a high- or low-beta stock may be desirable to a particular investor because of its potential for portfolio hedging, beta alone should not be the sole criteria when screening securities for that purpose (covariances between all existing and prospective portfolio components must be evaluated).

Also, you should take note that Google Finance and Yahoo Finance calculate beta over different periods. Google receives its financial data from Reuters, who use a five-year period of observations, whereas Yahoo uses a three-year period of observations. Therefore, the betas for the same stock are almost certain to be different depending on which service is the source of the information.

It would be worth indicating which service you used so readers can understand the time frame (3-year or 5-year) for which the beta value is applicable. Otherwise, you’re not exactly comparing apples-to-apples, so to speak.

Regards,

Rich

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Fadi El-Eter

October 8th, 2011 at 7:21 am

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your insight!

I am using Google’s figures…

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Michael O'Donnell

February 24th, 2012 at 4:42 pm

I would think KBH has an extremely high beta value. Why isn’t it on the list.?

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