Jefferies Offers Compelling Stocks to Buy After Big Corrections

June 26, 2013 by Jon C. Ogg

With the market touching an intraday low of 1,560.33 on Monday, the S&P 500’s decline had reached 7% from the highs posted in May. Positive housing and consumer confidence data yesterday helped to right the ship, and investors most likely sighed a breath of relief. Meanwhile, the analysts at Jefferies went to work looking for stocks that had traded off at least 15% from their highs and had compelling stories that were still in the process of unfolding.

Here are 10 stocks to buy from Jefferies with good analyst sponsorship and that offer sector diversity.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is down 21% from its six-month high. Jefferies thinks business is improving in the second quarter as inventories are more balanced and the weather has been better. Its price target for this top retailer is $60. The Thomson/First Call estimate is $59. Investors are paid a 1.7% dividend.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) has long been a target of short sellers and is also down 21% from the high this year. Jefferies has much higher revenue numbers than the rest of Wall Street, and Deckers fits its preference for owning U.S. domestic assets and revenue streams. Jefferies price target is $100, though the consensus target is much lower at $61. A move to the Jefferies target would be a 100% gain.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) is down 30% from recent highs. Late this year, the California-based business expects to start human trials of a transcatheter device designed to treat mitral valve regurgitation. This opens up a new and tremendous market for the medical device company. Jefferies price target sits at $85, but the consensus targets is lower at $75.

Ensco PLC (NYSE: ESV) is down 15% from earlier highs. There has been some concern that the company would be more aggressive with mergers and acquisitions, but Jefferies believes the company will be disciplined with capital allocation and will maintain a preference for methodical dividend increases. The price target on the stock is $72, while consensus target is close at $70. Investors are paid a tidy 3.5% dividend.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is down 26% from a six-month high. While not a fan of the large three-way merger in the works, the analysts like the management team and feel good that copper prices will trader materially higher through the rest of the decade. Jefferies has a $40 price target, and the consensus is at $36.85. Patient investors who buy here will also receive a very solid 4.4% dividend.

HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: HMSY) is down 30% from recent highs this year. Jefferies feels that since much of the upfront investment already has been done for the company’s cost containment services, but the margins on this business should improve quickly as revenue grows. Jefferies has a $30 price target, the same as the consensus target.

Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is down 31% from highs posted this year. The Jefferies team thinks the company is flat out the cheapest of all the machinery stocks on a pure metrics basis. They have a $45 price target on the stock, while the consensus target is $35.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) has been hammered and is down 57% from six-month highs. Jefferies thinks the stock is trading at floor valuations, which may get other companies interested. In addition, while the first quarter was weak, the company likely will gain traction through its hybrid cloud solutions once its OpenStack product becomes an enterprise name. Jefferies has a $60 price target on this fallen angel, and the consensus is at $46.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) is down 15% from recent highs. Jefferies believes the company is one of the highest quality names in the real estate group, and one that people will come to as they look to return to the group, which was hit on interest rate increase fears. Jefferies target is $195, and the consensus is lower at $190. Investors are paid a 2.9% dividend.

SolarWinds Inc. (NYSE: SWI) rounds out the list of compelling stocks to buy, and it is down 38% from six-month highs. Jefferies maintains that after a disappointing first quarter, the setup for the second quarter looks very promising. Management also reiterated that the core network management business had seen improved trends in April. The analysts expect the company to recover quickly and have a $59 price target. The consensus target is $55.

The Jefferies compelling stocks to buy are all strong companies, not fallen angels in which they see a dead cat bounce. Often when companies have an earnings miss, management change or ill-timed acquisition, they pain can linger for some time. Jefferies thinks that most, if not all, of these names can bounce back quick.

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