HLIO - Helios John Bean set to outperform as top machinery picks Baird says

Helios Technologies ( NYSE: HLIO ) and John Bean Technologies ( NYSE: JBT ) are top stock picks among machinery and diversified industrial companies going into 2023, according to analysts at Baird. They said shares in companies are set for gains after underperforming this year.

Conversely, Caterpillar ( CAT ), Deere ( DE ) and Agco ( AGCO ) are less likely to repeat this year’s outperformance in the next 12 months, if historical precedence is any indicator, according to Baird.

“Mean reversion is quite common given the cyclical nature of our coverage,” Mig Dobre, analyst at Baird, said in a Dec. 8 report. “Big winners often run out of steam while laggards eventually recover.”

Helios ( HLIO ) is notable as a 2022 underperformer – down 38% relative to the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index – that’s set up to revert to the mean. After underperforming benchmarks in 2003, 2006, 2012 and 2016, the stock posted strong gains the follow year, according to Baird’s analysis.

John Bean ( JBT ) is in a similar setup, with 2022 being its second-worst relative performance since it was spun off from FMC Technologies in 2008. It outperformed in 2011, 2018 and 2020, according to Baird.

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