20 Stocks With The Potential To Pop
It's the basic question when investing in a stock: is it on the way up or down?
To answer this question, the street has developed numerous ways of attempting to predict what will happen, estimating various attributes tied to stock performance in order to determine what the future holds for a company's valuation. After dissecting the data, analysts following a particular stock produce a price target of where they believe the stock is headed.
So far this year, the S&P 500 is down 1 percent, with only about half (238) of the index components outperforming the overall market. Among these companies, CNBC.com looked at the ones that are up over 2 percent year-to-date, which is greater than the yield of the 10-year US Treasury note, the risk-free rate. The stocks listed here have average consensus estimates farthest above their current stock prices. The prices and analyst estimates presented here are as of the market close on December 21, 2011.
So, which stocks are analysts expecting to have the biggest pops? Click ahead to find out!
By Giovanny Moreano& Paul Toscano
Posted 21 Dec 2011
20. AmerisourceBergen (ABC)
Potential to Pop: 24.27%
Mean Price Target: $46.03
Closing Price (12/21): $37.04
Number of Analysts: 16
High Estimate: $50
Low Estimate: $41.50
Get ABC Real-Time Quote
19. Cabot Oil & Gas (COG)
Potential to Pop: 24.40%
Mean Price Target: $96.22
Closing Price (12/21): $77.35
Number of Analysts: 18
High Estimate: $118
Low Estimate: $73
Get COG Real-Time Quote
18. Range Resources (RRC)
Potential to Pop: 25.15%
Mean Price Target: $78.16
Closing Price (12/21): $62.45
Number of Analysts: 29
High Estimate: $105
Low Estimate: $52
Get RRC Real-Time Quote
17. International Paper (IP)
Potential to Pop: 25.39%
Mean Price Target: $36.00
Closing Price (12/21): $28.71
Number of Analysts: 12
High Estimate: $45
Low Estimate: $29
Get IP Real-Time Quote
16. Tiffany & Co. (TIF)
Potential to Pop: 25.53%
Mean Price Target: $81.16
Closing Price (12/21): $64.65
Number of Analysts: 19
High Estimate: $109
Low Estimate: $69
Get TIF Real-Time Quote
15. Gilead Sciences (GILD)
Potential to Pop: 25.78%
Mean Price Target: $48.86
Closing Price (12/21): $38.85
Number of Analysts: 21
High Estimate: $55
Low Estimate: $40
Get GILD Real-Time Quote
14. eBay (EBAY)
Potential to Pop: 26.84%
Mean Price Target: $38.48
Closing Price (12/21): $30.34
Number of Analysts: 29
High Estimate: $48
Low Estimate: $21
Get EBAY Real-Time Quote
13. Viacom (VIAB)
Potential to Pop: 27.57%Â
Mean Price Target: $55.79
Closing Price (12/21): $43.73
Number of Analysts: 28Â
High Estimate: $69
Low Estimate: $47
Get VIAB Real-Time Quote
12. DirecTV (DTV)
Potential to Pop: 28.37%
Mean Price Target: $55.18
Closing Price (12/21): $42.99
Number of Analysts: 19
High Estimate: $61
Low Estimate: $47.50
Get DTV Real-Time Quote
11. EQT Corp (EQT)
Potential to Pop: 28.58%
Mean Price Target: $71.75
Closing Price (12/21): $55.80
Number of Analysts: 16
High Estimate: $84
Low Estimate: $48
Get EQT Real-Time Quote
10. Apple (AAPL)
Potential to Pop: 28.67%
Mean Price Target: $510.11
Closing Price (12/21): $396.45
Number of Analysts: 46
High Estimate: $700
Low Estimate: $260
Get AAPL Real-Time Quote
9. Electronic Arts (EA)
Potential to Pop: 28.95%
Mean Price Target: $26.18
Closing Price (12/21): $20.30
Number of Analysts: 17
High Estimate: $31
Low Estimate: $14
Get EA Real-Time Quote
9. Comcast (CMCSA)
Potential to Pop: 29.89%
Mean Price Target: $30.64
Closing Price (12/21): $23.59
Number of Analysts: 25
High Estimate: $35
Low Estimate: $27
Get CMCSA Real-Time Quote
Comcast is the majority owner of NBC Universal, the parent of CNBC and CNBC.com.
8. Teradata (TDC)
Potential to Pop: 31.50%
Mean Price Target: $62.73
Closing Price (12/21): $47.70
Number of Analysts: 11
High Estimate: $70
Low Estimate: $55
Get TDC Real-Time Quote
7. Priceline.com (PCLN)
Potential to Pop: 31.95%
Mean Price Target: $623.23
Closing Price (12/21): $472.33
Number of Analysts: 22
High Estimate: $720
Low Estimate: $460
Get PCLN Real-Time Quote
6. Wellpoint (WLP)
Potential to Pop: 32.06%
Mean Price Target: $86.74
Closing Price (12/21): $65.68
Number of Analysts: 19
High Estimate: $100
Low Estimate: $ 77
Get WLP Real-Time Quote
4. Tesoro (TSO)
Potential to Pop: 32.26%
Mean Price Target: $30.54
Closing Price (12/21): $23.09
Number of Analysts: 13
High Estimate: $46
Low Estimate: $24
Get TSO Real-Time Quote
3. Cigna Corp. (CI)
Potential to Pop: 33.18%
Mean Price Target: $56.21
Closing Price (12/21): $42.21
Number of Analysts: 14
High Estimate: $62
Low Estimate: $45
Get CI Real-Time Quote
2. Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT)
Potential to Pop: 34.12%
Mean Price Target: $18.56
Closing Price (12/21): $13.84
Number of Analysts: 8
High Estimate: $22
Low Estimate: $14
Get GT Real-Time Quote
1. SLM Corp. (SLM)
Potential to Pop: 36.94%
Mean Price Target: $18.50
Closing Price (12/21): $13.51
Number of Analysts: 4
High Estimate: $19
Low Estimate: $18
Get SLM Real-Time Quote