The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months

15. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Upside Potential: 16.7%

Market Cap: $653 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 181

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a well-known payments network. It provides digital payments and facilitates electronic funds transfers between consumers, merchants, and financial institutions. Notably, the company is not a financial institution and doesn’t issue cards or extend credit. Through its innovative technologies, it earns revenue by facilitating money movement across more than 200 countries and territories among the customers mentioned above.

For the last eight years, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has grown its revenues by a CAGR of 11% and EPS by 17%, generating strong free cash flows over those years. As per its latest investor day commentary, the company still sees an enormous opportunity across its businesses, targeting an estimated addressable consumer spend of $41 trillion, a $200 trillion payments volume opportunity in New Flows (Commercial & Money Movement Solutions), and $520 billion in value-added services.

Recent analyst opinions have been broadly positive on the stock. In early April, a Goldman Sachs analyst increased his price target on Visa to $392 from $384 earlier, reaffirming a Buy rating. An analyst from Evercore ISI called companies like Visa and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) the best defensive plays in a down market.