It hasn't been the greatest year for investors so far with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) only managing to add around 2.5% for the year-to-date.
In addition to this, a number of good quality shares have been absolutely hammered over the last few months as investors and fund managers move back into the mining and energy sectors.
While the outlook for 2017 is still a little unclear at this stage, I think now could be a great time for bargain hunting investors to take a closer look at these three beaten-up shares in particular:
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
REA Group shares have plummeted around 23% over the past six months, mainly on the back of lower listing volumes from the Australian residential market. Importantly, the company has still been able to grow profits despite the challenging conditions and remains well placed to leverage its dominant market position once listing volumes eventually recover. REA also has a number of exciting growth opportunities abroad that should provide it with the longer term opportunities required to create shareholder value.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
After trading as high as $121 earlier in the year, CSL shares are now trading near their 52-week lows of around $96 per share. While not much has changed in the way of the company's underlying operations over the past few months, the market has decided to re-rate the value of the company in response to the changing global interest rate environment. Nonetheless, the shares now trade on a price-to-earnings ratio of around 27 which, in my opinion, represents an excellent long term buying opportunity especially when you consider the pipeline of new treatments CSL has close to commercialisation.
Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA)
Speedcast is another share that is trading near its 52-week lows and at a discount of around 37% from its yearly high of $4.89. For those investors unfamiliar with the company, Speedcast provides satellite-based communication networks and services for businesses operating in remote and offshore locations including cruise ships and offshore oil platforms. Although the company has delivered extraordinary earnings growth over the past five years through organic and acquisitive growth, the market seems to be having a difficult time digesting its latest US$425 million acquisition. Nevertheless, if Speedcast can successfully realise the synergies it has outlined to investors, I suspect the share price will be significantly higher in 12 months' time.
