Five Stocks to Buy for Network Security Growth

By Trey Thoelcke Published Mar 27, 8:30AM EDT

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The network security industry continues to be one of technology’s fastest-growing segments. For the final quarter of 2013, the overall security market grew 6.8% year over year. Security is increasingly being viewed as “evergreen” by Wall Street, in contrast with other information technology (IT) sectors. Security has had to reinvent itself every few years to try to keep up with constantly evolving attack methods and changing computing models.

In a new report, the team at Oppenheimer highlights the stocks that are the market leaders in this huge growth industry. Investors looking for solid growth in technology for their portfolios should consider a position in these top stocks.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) continues to be the leader in the field. The company holds an 18% share of the overall security appliance market. Fourth-quarter numbers for the tech giant were outstanding, up 23.6% year over year. Much of that gain was attributed to the purchase last fall of Sourcefire. Investors are paid a 3.5% dividend. Wall Street remains torn on the prospects for the stock, but downside seems limited. The Thomson/First Call price target for the stock is $23.71. Cisco closed Wednesday at $22.32.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) runs a strong number two in the field, with a 12.7% market share in the fourth quarter as revenue increased 5.6%. The company recently announced a partnership with VMware to provide cloud-based security services. Check Point will combine its security solution Virtual Edition with VMware’s vSphere or the new VMware NSX network virtualization platform that provides private cloud-based service to make the cloud-computing environment more secure, simple, flexible and efficient. The consensus price target is posted at $73.08. Checkpoint closed Wednesday at $65.82.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a newer company to the game, but it comes in strong in third place. The company was able to corral a 6.6% share of the market in the fourth quarter. Recently, some analysts have suggested that the company could be a target for Hewlett-Packard as it looks to expand its footprint in the sector. The consensus price target is $25.63, and Fortinet closed Wednesday at $21.66.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) actually slipped back to fourth place in the quarter. The company continues to build sequential sales momentum, but it dropped to an overall 6.4% share, trailing Fortinet. With activist investor Elliott Management continuing to press for change at the company, investors will have an advocate as Juniper continues to restructure. While no dividend is currently paid, a $0.10 per share dividend will begin in the third quarter of 2014 and is expected to grow. The consensus price target is $29.21. The stock closed trading Wednesday at $25.70 a share.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) once again come in fifth in total sales. The company is leading a new era in cybersecurity by protecting thousands of enterprise, government and service provider networks from cyber threats. Unlike fragmented legacy products, the company’s security platform safely enables business operations and delivers protection based on what matters most in today’s dynamic computing environments: applications, users and content. It does not have the massive sales force that some of its competitors have. Palo Alto is another company that may be an acquisition target. The consensus price target is $83.02, and Palo Alto closed Wednesday at $69.38.

Oppenheimer maintains that the drivers for network security are unlikely to change dramatically over the next 12 months. Specialized threat prevention, distributed denial of service protection and application control continue to be key areas of the sector. Corporations and government, here and around the world, will continue to look for cost-effective investments to secure their computing environments. Cyberattacks are only going to increase as the bad guys get more savvy and brazen.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.