One of the problems (for want of a better word) with the market recently has been the severe lack of volatility. Over the past 12 months the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has gained less than 8% and remained within a trading range of 5008 to 5644 points.
The reason volatility can be good for an investor is that it can create opportunities to purchase stocks at undervalued levels. In fact, volatility could be described as the friend of the value investor. Rather than becoming worried by volatility and falling share prices, a value investor will cherish the opportunity to seek out stocks which become mispriced.
In the past few days there has been a marked increase in volatility with global markets becoming nervous over a multitude of events. In the process, the following three stocks have all hit new 52-week lows and they've caught my eye as potentially entering value territory.
Ozforex Group Ltd (ASX: OFX) released its results which were by and large good, however the market was expecting more. Having listed last October after issuing shares at $2, the share price enjoyed a speedy rally all the way to $3.50 by March this year. Since then however, investor enthusiasm for the stock has waned with the stock retracing most of its gains to close yesterday at $2.22.
Countplus Ltd (ASX: CUP) is a stock I highlighted back in July for its above average dividend yield. When I wrote that article the stock was trading around $1.75 since then the stock has traded down and hit a new low of $1.69. With the long-term outlook for the accounting group unchanged, the lower price simply makes the fully franked dividend yield even more appealing.
Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX: GTK) is a recently listed New Zealand-based software company with an appealing product offering and quality portfolio of customers. The company has put initial public offering (IPO) shareholders in the unfortunate situation of downgrading guidance soon after listing. While it would have been better if this hadn't occurred, in the long term this downgrade will likely be a minor blip. The stock is currently trading at $1.85, which is well below the $2.19 IPO price.