Each quarter near the end of the earnings season, CNBC's Analytics team publishes a list of 20 stocks in the S&P 500 trading at the greatest premiums or discounts to their analysts’ consensus target prices.
Since our last “20 Stocks with the Potential to Drop” list was published on November 30, 2010, 14 companies underperformed the S&P 500 index, which is up nearly nine percent over the same period.
Note that two companies within the list were acquired: Massey Energy and King Pharamaceuticals (This was also the case from the list published on September 22, 2010, in which Novell was bought out).
Of the remaining stocks, nine are either flat or down, with Monster Worldwide taking the first spot, down 41 percent, followed by American International Group , with a loss of 34 percent.
At the current levels, only 12 companies or about two percent of the S&P 500 components are expected to drop in price four percent or more, according to analysts' estimates compiled by CNBC. Could this be a sign of an overly optimistic market?
Here is a look at how the entire group performed since it was published, and make sure to be on lookout for the new list, which will be available on cnbc.comthis afternoon.
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