S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares as a whole haven’t gotten off to the strongest of starts in 2022.
After gaining 13% in 2021, the ASX 200 is currently down 9.5% since the opening bell on 4 January, as at intraday trading on Friday morning.
Yesterday the index even entered a technical correction for the year, defined as any pullback of more than 10%.
With today’s intraday gains factored in, and going from the closing bell on 31 December, the ASX 200 has dropped 7.5%.
Some stocks, as you’d expect, have done it much harder. Others have managed to post strong gains.
With the first 4 weeks of 2022 now behind us, below we look at the top two ASX 200 shares to have held so far in the new year.
Top two ASX 200 shares for 2022
Our top performer is, drum roll please, AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL).
The AGL share price is up 14.4% in 2022, trading for $7.02 per share.
AGL received some positive broker coverage earlier in January, with Credit Suisse and JP Morgan joining the bullish bandwagon for the outlook of the Aussie power company in 2022.
Credit Suisse came out with a price target of $8.50 per share with JP Morgan targeting $7.55 per share. Both forecasts would see the AGL share price have significantly more upside from here.
For income investors, AGL also pays a compelling 9.2% trailing dividend yield, unfranked.
The number 2 performer
Moving on, the second best performing ASX 200 share of 2022 is Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).
The Woodside share price is up 12.7% since the closing bell on 31 December, currently at $24.85 per share.
Among other tailwinds, the oil and gas giant has benefited from soaring oil and LNG prices.
On 31 December, international benchmark Brent crude oil was trading for US$77.78 per barrel. At time of writing, the same barrel is fetching US$89.34, up 15%.
Woodside also delivered a strong quarterly report on 20 January, indicating a surge in quarterly revenue and record revenue for the 2021 financial year. Woodside reported it expects FY21 revenues to come in at US$6.97 billion, up from US$3.61 billion in FY20.
Management of the ASX 200 energy share also forecast a year-on-year increase in production for FY22.
Woodside pays a 2.3% trailing dividend yield, fully franked.
The post Top two ASX 200 shares of 2022 to date revealed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.
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More reading
- ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: ResMed and PointsBet disappoint
- 2 ASX dividend shares now offering big yields
- 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
- Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
- 3 reasons not to panic in this ASX 200 correction
The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.
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