Just as we examine companies each week that may be rising past their fair value, we can also find companies potentially trading at bargain prices. While many investors would rather have nothing to do with companies tipping the scales at 52-week lows, I think it makes a lot of sense to determine whether the market has overreacted to the downside, just as we often do when the market reacts to the upside.
Here’s a look at three fallen angels trading near their 52-week lows that could be worth buying.
Sky-high profits
There’s nothing I enjoy more than scouring the market for undervalued and obscure small-cap names, which is why we’re beginning this week by taking a closer look at LMI Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMIA), a provider of structural assemblies, kits, and components to the aerospace and defense industries.
It isn’t hard to understand why aerospace and defense contractors have been pulverized by investors if you consider that sequestration is removing $85 billion in spending from the U.S. federal budget. This $85 billion is coming from a myriad of industries, but defense spending is certain to feel a pinch. In fact, in LMI Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMIA)’s most recent quarter it reported a bigger-than-expected slowdown in its engineering revenue because of an order slowdown from its largest customer — probably because of the sequester.
With a forward P/E of just 8, I think investors have vastly overreacted to a tightening federal budget and would suggest digging deeper into LMI Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMIA).
Don’t thank me, thank Obamacare!
Continuing with the theme of focusing on obscure companies, health-care information technology solutions provider Computer Programs & Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPSI) could be an intriguing play moving forward.
As we’ve witnessed from numerous deeps dives into the upcoming implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known also as Obamacare, consumers and investors are quite skittish about its implementation. From Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and home health providers to getting the complex network of technology up and running in anticipation of the Oct. 1 start date for the state-run health exchanges, uncertainty is, in some cases, punishing the sector.
One company that I feel has been unduly punished is CPSI, a health-care software developer to rural hospitals that handles revenue cycle management and cost controls. The PPACA is going to play perfectly into CPSI’s hands. First, all records have moved to a digital platform, meaning hospitals are looking to optimize revenue collection and minimize costs in anticipation of the PPACA’s implementation. Second, focusing solely on rural hospitals gives it a niche customer base and minimizes competition. Finally, the PPACA itself should see an influx of insured patients hitting hospitals meaning that hospitals around the U.S. will be looking to install the latest revenue management software which CPSI can provide.
Add in the fact that CPSI boasts $17.5 million in cash ($1.58 per share) and no debt, and pays out better than $2 a year in dividends and I feel you have the perfect recipe for a bounce!
The coming boom
Drilling equipment demand may not appear to be booming at the moment, but just give the Obama administration a few more years and the story in this sector should change in a big way. Specifically, National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV) a provider of equipment and services to onshore and offshore drillers, stands to see big gains.
Huge shale deposit finds over the past decade are going to fuel a rapid expansion in oil and gas production. The only hold-up had been laying the pipeline, storage, and transmission infrastructure to accommodate such a large bump in production. With much of that infrastructure now in place, oil and gas service companies like National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV) should be constrained only by the price of oil and gas. Seeing as how the gap between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude has been narrowing, this leads to a high potential for even higher domestic oil production which would be a positive for National Oilwell.
Comparatively speaking, National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV) isn’t particularly expensive, either. Earlier this year the company doubled its payout to shareholders to $0.26 per quarter from $0.13 because of its strong cash flow and still trades at just 11 times forward earnings. With shareholders finally getting their fair share of the pie and domestic energy demand almost certain to pick up, National Oilwell Varco is a name you should at least have on your Watchlist.
Foolish roundup
Sometimes the best values are the hidden gems that no one’s ever heard of before. By pushing outside the box for investing ideas you can often uncover stocks that trade for low multiples, have huge dividend yields, or simply sit at the precipice of a major industrywide shift.
The article 3 Stocks Near 52-Week Lows Worth Buying originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends, National Oilwell Varco.
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