5 Best Recession Stocks to Buy According to Jim Cramer

2. Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83     

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) is a Washington-based conglomerate with interests in professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. Cramer gave the stock a Buy recommendation during the Lightning Round segment of his show on June 1. The Investing Club of CNBC, which Cramer heads, has identified the firm as the “right kind of stock” for the present market given its reliable earnings history. 

On June 1, RBC Capital analyst Deane Dray upgraded Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised the price target to $310 from $299, noting that the “high quality, defensive portfolio looks incrementally more attractive given the higher Wall of Worry/macro fear”. 

At the end of the first quarter of 2022, 83 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $6.1 billion in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR), compared to 87 in the preceding quarter worth $7.3 billion.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Cooper Investors, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“This combination of attributes was not in favour during a quarter where the market rotated into larger, more traditional index heavyweights that, while growing more slowly and generating lower returns on capital, typically trade on lower headline multiples. In Healthcare for example, we saw portfolio holdings Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) fall 10-15% in the quarter. Given the relative business quality and growth prospects for a life sciences capital allocator champion like Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) versus a large diversified pharma company, we think this period of underperformance is likely more a blip than a trend.”