Over the past 12 months, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) has rallied nearly 13% according to Google Finance – and that is excluding dividends!
Most investors would be fairly pleased with this result, especially those who have held resources shares during this time.
Unfortunately, a number of non-mining related shares have struggled over the past 12 months and this has put a handbrake on the returns of those investors who have been underweight the resources sector.
Despite this, I think now may be a good time for investors to take another look at some of these beaten-up shares, including:
Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX)
Mayne Pharma delivered a spectacular increase in profits in its latest first-half earnings result, but still remains a high-risk, high-reward proposition as a result of the uncertainty created by a U.S. investigation into price fixing of drugs. The company has played down the claims so far and has reiterated a positive growth outlook on the back of a large pipeline of new products and cost synergies. While this is a stock risk-averse investors should avoid right now, I think investors who are comfortable with volatility should take a closer look at the drug maker considering the shares are trading on a historically low earnings multiple.
Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN)
The Freelancer share price has lost more than 50% of its value since July 2016, mainly on the back of disappointing results from its recently acquired Escrow.com business. On a more positive note, the company's core business continues to perform strongly and has grown its registered user base over the past 12 months by 26% to 23.3 million people. Pleasingly, Freelancer is now delivering positive operating cashflow and is still well positioned to take advantage of the shifting trends impacting the global workforce.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)
The Nearmap share price has fallen more than 40% from its 52-week highs, largely on the back of slower-than-expected progress in the lucrative U.S. aerial imaging market. While progress has been slower-than-expected, the company is beginning to show signs of improvement with the number of customers and value of contracts increasing significantly in the first half of FY17. While Nearmap is still considered a speculative share at this stage, I think the company's current valuation represents an attractive value proposition, especially if Nearmap can gain traction in North America.
