Stockpickr: PC-Security List

Of the stocks I compiled, Symantec(SYMC Quote) stands out.

Like many good companies, Symantec got hit by a failed integration of an acquisition. The idea behind the purchase was correct: "Let's buy Veritas, a provider of storage software, because every corporation that needs to enhance its storage systems also will need to secure that stored data."

Symantec probably reasoned that those companies would use either Symantec or a competitor like Microsoft(MSFT Quote).

The integration, though, has progressed more slowly than people believed it would, despite initial excitement about the idea. As a result, the stock has faltered. What intrigues me, however, is that Symantec has faltered to the extent that quality value-oriented and activist hedge funds have been scooping up shares of the stock.

Symantec has a $15 billion market cap, almost $1 billion in net cash and more than $1.5 billion in cash flows, giving it a multiple-over-cash-flows of less than 10. And analysts are expecting solid growth, despite the integration troubles with Veritas. Analysts expect earnings to climb from 95 cents a share in the year ending March 2007 to $1.10 for the year ending March 2008.