These stocks are well-liked by analysts and can protect your portfolio in times of sell-off

Published Thu, Apr 25 202411:01 AM EDTUpdated Thu, Apr 25 202411:08 AM EDT

While a market correction can be bad for a portfolio, CNBC Pro has some ideas for how to weather a downturn. Gross domestic product came in far below economists' expectations on Thursday, catalyzing a sell-off in morning trading. That is on top of megacap technology stock Meta plunging on the back of earnings, which also put downward pressure on the market. Thursday's moves mark the latest leg down in April's pullback from all-time highs hit earlier this year. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S & P 500 have lost around 5% over the month, while the Nasdaq Composite has fallen nearly 6%. If this proves to be the start of a bigger downtrend in the market, CNBC Pro still has ideas for where to put money to work. Using the screener tool only available for subscribers, investors can look for fortress-like equities that can offer protection amid a sell-off. To find these, CNBC Pro searched for S & P 500 stocks that met the following criteria: Dividend yield of at least 4% Earnings per share growth of at least 10% Consensus analyst rating of buy Upside on average analyst's price target of at least 10% Here are the seven stocks that checked all those boxes: Ventas made the list, with earnings per share growth above 14% and a dividend yield of slightly over 4.1%. The average analyst surveyed by LSEG also has a buy rating with an upside showing shares can rally about 18% in the next year. That would mark a turnaround for the stock, which has dropped more than 13% in 2024. One of those analysts is Evercore ISI's Steve Sakwa, who upgraded the real estate investment trust to outperform last month. After the company clears one hurdle tied to a lease, he said it will be poised to see earnings inflect while valuation looks attractive. "Few large cap REITs exhibit high single digit compound AFFO growth potential over the next 3 years and fewer still are inflecting to such extent," Sakwa wrote to clients. VTR YTD mountain Ventas, year to date Host Hotels & Resorts also passed the screen, with earnings per share growth above 17% and a yield also slightly higher than 4.2%. The hotel chain has also underperformed the market this year with a slide of more than 2.4%, but Wall Street sees a bounce ahead. In addition to having a buy rating, the typical analyst polled by LSEG anticipates shares climbing nearly 21%. AT & T has the highest dividend of those in the screen at over 6.7%. It also has the second-highest earnings per share growth rate at nearly 265%. The telecommunications giant has risen less than 1% this year, also underperforming the market. But the average analyst has a buy rating on the stock with a price target suggesting shares can jump nearly 16%, per LSEG.