Interested in technology companies? Do you like to be able to rely on a stock's dividend income as a source of return? Do you prefer companies with high liquidity? Are you after stocks that analysts are calling 'buy' or 'strong buy'? We ran a screen you might be interested in.
The Current ratio is a liquidity ratio used to determine a company's financial health. The metric illustrates how easily a firm can pay back its short obligations all at once through current assets. A company that has a current ratio of one or less is generally a liquidity red flag. Now this doesn't mean the company will go bankrupt tomorrow, but it also doesn't bode well for the company, and may indicate that it could have an issue paying back upcoming obligations.
The Quick ratio measures a company's ability to use its cash or assets to extinguish its current liabilities immediately. Quick assets include assets that presumably can be converted to cash at close to their book values. A company with a Quick Ratio of less than 1 cannot currently pay back its current liabilities. The quick ratio is more conservative than the Current Ratio because it excludes inventory from current assets, since some companies have difficulty turning their inventory into cash. If short-term obligations need to be paid off immediately, sometimes the current ratio would overestimate a company's short-term financial strength. In general, the higher the ratio, the greater the company's liquidity (i.e., the better able to meet current obligations using liquid assets).
We first looked for technology dividend stocks. We next screened for businesses that have strong liquidity (Current Ratio>2)(Quick Ratio>2). From here, we then looked for companies that analysts rate as "Buy" or "Strong Buy" (mean recommendation < 3). We did not screen out any market caps.
Do you think these stocks will go up in price? Use this list as a starting-off point for your own analysis.
1) NTELOS Holdings Corp. (NTLS)
| Sector: | Technology |
| Industry: | Wireless Communications |
| Market Cap: | $403.22M |
| Beta: | 0.84 |
NTELOS Holdings Corp. has a Dividend Yield of 8.83% and Payout Ratio of 169.26% and Current Ratio of 2.20 and Quick Ratio of 2.07 and Analysts' Rating of 1.90. The short interest was 1.96% as of 05/24/2012. NTELOS Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides wireless communications services to consumers and businesses primarily in Virginia and West Virginia, as well as parts of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky. It primarily offers wireless digital personal communications services, such as wireless voice and data products and services, and roaming/travel services under the NTELOS Wireless brand name. The company also provides wholesale network services to Sprint Nextel in the western Virginia and West Virginia area for various Sprint CDMA wireless customers.
2) Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP)
| Sector: | Technology |
| Industry: | Semiconductor - Specialized |
| Market Cap: | $5.93B |
| Beta: | 1.10 |
Microchip Technology Inc. has a Dividend Yield of 4.54% and Payout Ratio of 79.09% and Current Ratio of 8.13 and Quick Ratio of 7.26 and Analysts' Rating of 2.50. The short interest was 10.74% as of 05/24/2012. Microchip Technology Incorporated engages in the design, development, manufacture, and market of semiconductor products for embedded control applications. Its product portfolio includes microcontrollers, such as 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit microcontrollers marketed under the PIC brand name, as well as 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controllers (DSC); and development tools that enable system designers to program a PIC microcontroller and dsPIC DSC for specific applications. The company also offers analog and interface products, including power management, linear, mixed-signal, thermal management, RF Linear drivers, safety and security, and interface products; and technology licensing products. In addition, it licenses flash intellectual property solutions, and provides assembly and test services for semiconductor manufacturers.
3) Computer Programs & Systems Inc. (CPSI)
| Sector: | Technology |
| Industry: | Healthcare Information Services |
| Market Cap: | $615.27M |
| Beta: | 0.42 |
Computer Programs & Systems Inc. has a Dividend Yield of 3.31% and Payout Ratio of 69.49% and Current Ratio of 2.84 and Quick Ratio of 2.74 and Analysts' Rating of 1.80. The short interest was 5.75% as of 05/24/2012. Computer Programs and Systems, Inc., a healthcare information technology company, designs, develops, markets, installs, and supports computerized information technology systems to small and midsize hospitals in the United States. Its enterprise-wide system automates the management of clinical and financial data across the primary functional areas of a hospital. The company offers services that enable customers to outsource certain data-related business processes in the areas of clinical care, revenue cycle management, cost control, and regulatory compliance.
4) Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM)
| Sector: | Technology |
| Industry: | Semiconductor - Broad Line |
| Market Cap: | $7.37B |
| Beta: | 1.13 |
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. has a Dividend Yield of 3.49% and Payout Ratio of 68.88% and Current Ratio of 3.74 and Quick Ratio of 3.24 and Analysts' Rating of 2.30. The short interest was 0.72% as of 05/24/2012. Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. engages in designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing various linear and mixed-signal integrated circuits worldwide. The company also provides various high-frequency process technologies and capabilities for use in custom designs. It primarily serves industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets.
*Company profiles were sourced from Finviz. Financial data was sourced from Google Finance and Yahoo Finance.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
