Top 20 Stocks to Hold for the Long Term, Ranked by Marvin
Marvin's rules picked 20 larger, profitable companies with high business quality, solid revenue growth and moderate debt, ranked by Overall score and capped per sector. Scores compare each company with others in its own industry.
Holding a stock for the long term usually means owning a business that keeps earning money, grows its sales and does not lean too heavily on borrowing. This list looks for those traits using Marvin's rules rather than opinions.
The 20 companies here come from many sectors, including mining, energy, technology, finance, real estate, healthcare, industrials, food and utilities. Each one passed the same screen for size, profitability, business quality, revenue growth and debt.
Keep in mind that a list like this describes the past and present, not the future. One year of strong growth is a short record, and some figures are missing for certain companies. Treat each pick as a starting point for your own research.
The list
How Marvin ranked these stocks
Marvin started with companies above a minimum size, then kept only profitable ones in the billions of dollars in size with a high Business Quality score, revenue growth above a minimum level, and debt no greater than equity. The stocks are ranked by Overall score, highest first, with no more than three per sector. All scores run from 0 to 100 and are relative to each company's own industry, so a high score means a company compares well with industry peers today, not that it beats every company everywhere.
Companies above about $300 million in size, ranked by Marvin scores (0-100, relative to each company's own industry). Profitable companies above about $2 billion with a Business Quality score of at least 75, revenue growth of at least 5% and debt no more than equal to equity, highest Overall first; at most 3 per sector.
The stocks, one by one
AngloGold Ashanti Plc AU
AngloGold Ashanti, a gold miner, has an Overall score of 97 and a quality score of 96. Revenue grew 70.8% last fiscal year, return on equity is 39.2%, and debt-to-equity is a low 0.28. Caution: operating and free cash flow margins are missing, so the cash picture is incomplete.
Expand Energy Corporation EXE
Expand Energy, a natural gas and oil producer, shows an operating margin of 26.9% and a free cash flow margin of 19.7%, with low debt-to-equity of 0.19. Caution: revenue growth of 186.3% is one year only, and return on equity of 14.3% is more modest.
Dorian LPG Ltd. LPG
Dorian LPG keeps a very strong operating margin of 57.6% and a return on equity of 26.0%, with revenue growth of 36.3%. Debt-to-equity is 0.52, moderate within this list. Caution: free cash flow margin is not available, so cash generation cannot be confirmed here.
NVIDIA Corporation NVDA
NVIDIA posts a quality score of 97, an operating margin of 65.2%, a free cash flow margin of 41.9% and return on equity of 84.2%, with low debt of 0.17. Caution: revenue growth of 65.5% covers a single fiscal year, a short record.
Sandisk Corporation SNDK
Sandisk has almost no debt, with debt-to-equity of 0.01, plus an operating margin of 61.2% and a free cash flow margin of 56.8%. Caution: revenue growth of 175.3% is a very large one-year jump, which makes for a short track record to judge.
Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. VCTR
Victory Capital, an asset manager, scores 97 on quality, with an operating margin of 41.3%, return on equity of 19.4% and revenue growth of 46.2%. Debt-to-equity is 0.43. Caution: free cash flow margin and gross margin are not available.
Barrick Mining Corporation B
Barrick Mining, a gold miner, has a quality score of 94, a gross margin of 51.3% and a free cash flow margin of 22.8%. Revenue grew 31.2% and debt-to-equity is 0.18. Caution: operating margin is not available, so profit after costs is only partly visible.
First Busey Corporation BUSE
First Busey, a regional bank, shows revenue growth of 55.7%, an operating margin of 38.0% and low debt-to-equity of 0.06. Caution: return on equity of 9.7% is modest next to many companies on this list, and free cash flow margin is missing.
CareTrust REIT, Inc. CTRE
CareTrust REIT, which owns healthcare facilities, grew revenue 60.8% and carries debt-to-equity of 0.27, fairly low. Its quality score is 96. Caution: return on equity of 7.9% is modest, and no margin figures are available to judge profitability further.
Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. EPRT
Essential Properties Realty Trust has an operating margin of 62.8% and revenue growth of 24.8%, with a quality score of 96. Caution: return on equity of 6.1% is low, debt-to-equity of 0.67 is moderate, and its opportunity score of 87 trails its quality score.
General Dynamics Corporation GD
General Dynamics, in aerospace and defense, grew revenue 10.1% with a free cash flow margin of 11.5% and return on equity of 16.6%. Debt-to-equity is 0.38. Caution: its operating margin of 10.2% is thinner than most companies here, and growth is steady rather than fast.
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. JKHY
Jack Henry, an IT services company, has a free cash flow margin of 27.3%, an operating margin of 25.0% and almost no debt, at 0.04 debt-to-equity. Caution: revenue growth of 7.1% is slow here, and its opportunity score of 67 is far below its quality score of 96.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. SFD
Smithfield Foods, a packaged foods company, grew revenue 9.8% and earns a return on equity of 15.1%, with debt-to-equity of 0.26. Caution: its operating margin of 8.6% and gross margin of 13.4% are thin, and free cash flow margin is not available.
American States Water Company AWR
American States Water, a regulated water utility, has a gross margin of 90.1%, an operating margin of 31.8% and revenue growth of 10.5%. Caution: its free cash flow margin of 3.0% is very small, debt-to-equity of 0.65 is moderate, and the opportunity score is lower at 82.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated DGX
Quest Diagnostics grew revenue 11.8%, with an operating margin of 14.1%, a free cash flow margin of 11.7% and return on equity of 14.1%. Caution: margins are modest, and debt-to-equity of 0.85 is on the higher side of this list.
Comfort Systems USA, Inc. FIX
Comfort Systems USA, an engineering and construction firm, earns a return on equity of 44.6% and grew revenue 29.5%, with low debt-to-equity of 0.11. Caution: its operating margin of 16.5% and gross margin of 25.7% are more modest than those of many peers here.
Hinge Health, Inc. HNGE
Hinge Health has a gross margin of 84.5%, a free cash flow margin of 40.3%, revenue growth of 50.6% and very low debt-to-equity of 0.02. Caution: its operating margin of 13.0% is much thinner than its gross margin, and its quality score is 90.
Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. OTF
Blue Owl Technology Finance, an asset manager, posts an operating margin of 43.6% and revenue growth of 67.5%. Caution: return on equity of 5.0% is low, debt-to-equity of 0.95 is near the screen's upper limit, and its quality score of 81 is lower than most here.
CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF
CF Industries, in agricultural inputs, has an operating margin of 41.1%, a free cash flow margin of 24.7% and return on equity of 43.5%. Debt-to-equity is 0.63. Caution: revenue growth of 19.3% is a single year, and its quality score of 90 is below many peers on this list.
Terreno Realty Corporation TRNO
Terreno Realty, an industrial property owner, grew revenue 24.5% and has low debt-to-equity of 0.21. Caution: its quality score of 76 is the lowest on this list, return on equity of 8.8% is modest, and no margin figures are available.
Common questions
What do Marvin's scores actually measure?
Marvin gives each company an Overall, Quality and Opportunity score from 0 to 100. They show how a company compares with other companies in its own industry today. They are not forecasts and do not say where a stock price is headed.
Does a high score mean a stock is safe for the long term?
No. A high score means the company looks strong on the measures Marvin uses, such as profitability, growth and debt. Any company can face problems, and a few years of good numbers do not guarantee the next few. Spreading money across several companies and sectors is a common way to reduce risk.
Why are some figures missing for certain stocks?
Not every company reports every measure in a way that fits Marvin's data. Banks, real estate trusts and asset managers, for example, often lack figures like gross margin or free cash flow margin. When a figure is missing, the write-up says so and relies on the other measures.
Keep reading
- Top 20 Stocks for Beginners: Large, Profitable, Low-Debt
- Top 20 Top-Rated Stocks Right Now: Marvin's Favorites
- Top 20 Large-Cap Stocks Right Now, Ranked by Marvin Scores
- Top 20 Growth Stocks Right Now
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Marvin's scores (0-100) compare each company with others in its industry today. Growth and margin figures come from SEC filings. This is general information, not personal investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Do your own research.