Exelon Corporation (EXC), CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL): Beaten Down and Poised to Rebound

Bucking the trend is hard-drive specialist Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX), which surged 88%. It yields 3.3%, and has been upping its payout considerably in recent years. Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) looks like a cheap stock, with its P/E ratio around seven, and significant free cash flow. It has been hurt by the decline of the PC, but there’s still hope, as cloud computing takes off and requires storage, and if solid-state and hybrid drives grow in demand. Some are wary, though, thinking its margins can’t grow much, and that it might not be able to shrink its share count as much as it wants to.

Domestic tobacco giant Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) gained 8% and yields 5%, despite facing challenges such as a shrinking smoker base in the U.S., more folks moving to discount cigarettes, and rising taxes and regulations. The company is tackling the shrinking smoking base by moving into electronic cigarettes, which some expect to become a big market. Bulls may like its hefty free cash flow, but there are reasons to worry, too, such as also-hefty taxes.

The big picture
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The article Beaten Down and Poised to Rebound originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, holds no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Exelon.

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