After absolutely dominating the market this year, the technology sector has taken a mighty hit this week. Over the past five trading sessions, the S&P Technology sector was down 3%, slightly lagging the S&P 500’s 2.75% decrease. There is no question that some of the leaders have been the victim of end of the quarter profit-taking. The real question for many investors is simple: Is the party over?
A new research report from the Information Technology and Hardware analysts at UBS tracks the stocks that are the most overbought and oversold on a relative strength basis. Needless to say, Thursday’s huge sell-off skewed numbers for the stocks that were oversold even more. One caveat from the report, and one for investors to be mindful of: the UBS team said that many of the stocks in their coverage universe were fairly valued at this time.
Here are five high-profile technology stocks that showed up on the UBS oversold screen.
Arrow Electronics Inc. (NYSE: ARW) has initiated some solid restructuring moves recently to boost margins and squeeze more revenue to the bottom line. Arrow is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 100,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 460 locations in 58 countries.
The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for Arrow is $64. The stock closed Thursday at $56.90 a share.
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Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) posted solid earnings so far this year, and yet the stock still has a hard time gaining much traction, despite moving higher. The company has shifted its focus from infrastructure sales to more profitable software and services. Last year it purchased big-data rival Infochimps in an effort to expand its platform and revenues. While longer term the company faces structural competitive challenges, near term the company has a solid book of business, and management is taken steps, such as offshoring, to reduce operating expenses.
Computer Sciences investors are paid a 1.5% dividend. The consensus price target for the stock is $64.62. Shares closed Thursday at $56.63.
Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) is the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in IT supply chain, mobile device life-cycle services and logistics solutions. Monday it announced a multiyear agreement with SquareTrade, the number-one-rated mobile device protection plan, trusted by millions of customers. Ingram Micro Mobility will provide all mobile device life-cycle services and back-end supply chain operations for SquareTrade, creating unrivaled reliability and consistency across its operations.
The consensus price target for this top stock to buy is $34.70. Ingram Micro shares closed trading on Thursday at $26.10.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) may be the ultimate contrarian tech stock pick. The company’s large layoffs in the summer dented the balance sheet as it reported second-quarter earnings way below Wall Street estimates. Shares were down over 10%, and many of the top firms on Wall Street that cover the stock moved their ratings from Buy to Neutral. Positive activist shareholders moves combined with a solid product cycle have made the stock a recent favorite, so its trip to the woodshed may be just the ticket for investors looking to buy some. The company has a big presence in network and enterprise security and could possibly be a merger or straight out takeover target.
Investors in Juniper Networks are paid a 1.7% dividend. The consensus price target is $26.88, and shares closed Thursday $22.16.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) has been a frustrating stock for investors over the past few years. As the printing market has diversified and smaller, more nimble competitors have jumped into the market, Lexmark has struggled to retain its core business customer. In an attempt to jump-start its global business, the company recently acquired Swedish tech firm ReadSoft. ReadSoft is expected to be integrated into Lexmark’s Perceptive Software segment, which has been strengthened with several acquisitions such as PACSGEAR, Saperion and Brainware.
Lexmark pays shareholders a tidy 3% dividend. The consensus price target is $40.33, but shares closed above that level Thursday at $42.77.
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With fall in the air, and October right around the corner, tech investors need to tread carefully. It does make sense, however, to look at top technology stocks that are way oversold on a relative strength basis. The five companies UBS pinpointed fit that description.
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