Ford, Sotheby's, Juniper Networks Hit Highs

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks gained Wednesday, helped by a positive read on service industries from the Institute for Supply Management. These stocks hit 52-week highs.

3. Sotheby's

(BID) - Get Report

gained 6.3% to $29.73, hitting a high of $30.33. Shares of the auction house have appreciated 19% during the past month.

The numbers

: Sotheby's swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $74 million, or $1.09 a share, from a loss of $9.3 million, or 14 cents, a year earlier. Revenue grew 31% to $218 million. The operating margin jumped from 10% to 46%. Sotheby's has $346 million of cash and $513 million of debt.

The stock

: Sotheby's has quadrupled during the past year, beating major U.S. indices. The stock trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 20, a slight discount to peers. Shares are cheap based on book value and cash flow.

2. Juniper Networks

(JNPR) - Get Report

increased 0.7% to $28.76, touching a high of $28.98. Shares of the communications equipment maker have climbed 14% during the past month.

The numbers

: Fourth-quarter profit declined 1.2% to $131 million, or 24 cents a share, as revenue increased 1.9% to $941 million. Juniper's operating margin narrowed from 21% to 20%. Its balance sheet contains $2.2 billion of cash and no debt.

The stock

: Juniper Networks has more than doubled during the past year, outperforming major benchmarks. The stock trades at a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 20, a premium to competitors. Its PEG ratio, a measure of value relative to growth, of 0.4 reflects a 12% discount to the industry average. A PEG ratio below 1 implies cheap shares.

1. Ford

(F) - Get Report

increased 3.8% to $12.68, hitting a high of $12.83. Shares of the carmaker have risen 8.9% during the past month.

The numbers

: Ford swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $886 million, or 25 cents a share, from a loss of $6 billion, or $2.51, a year earlier. Revenue grew 22% to $35 billion. The operating margin climbed from negative territory to 6.6%. Ford possesses $37 billion of cash and $7.8 billion of debt.

The stock

: Ford has risen sixfold during the past year, outpacing indices. The stock sells for a price-to-projected-earnings ratio of 8.9, a vast discount to the industry average of 41. Its PEG ratio of 1.2 is on par with peers, but indicates costly shares.

-- Reported by Jake Lynch in Boston.