Wall Street’s bearish price targets for the stocks in this article signal serious concerns. Such forecasts are uncommon in an industry where maintaining cordial corporate relationships often trumps delivering the hard truth.
Accurately determining a company’s long-term prospects isn’t easy, especially when sentiment is weak. That’s where StockStory comes in - to help you find attractive investment candidates backed by unbiased research. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock poised to prove Wall Street wrong and two where the skepticism is well-placed.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Hartford (HIG)
Consensus Price Target: $150.20 (13.7% implied return)
Recognizable by its iconic stag logo that dates back to 1810, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) provides property and casualty insurance, group benefits, and investment products to individuals and businesses across the United States.
Why Does HIG Worry Us?
- Outsized scale creates growth headwinds as its 5.7% annualized net premiums earned increases over the last two years underperformed other financial institutions
- Sales are projected to tank by 26.5% over the next 12 months as demand evaporates
- Scale is a double-edged sword because it limits the firm’s capital growth potential compared to its smaller competitors, as reflected in its below-average annual book value per share increases of 6.8% for the last five years
Hartford is trading at $132.05 per share, or 1.8x forward P/B. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than HIG.
Columbia Banking System (COLB)
Consensus Price Target: $31.38 (5.9% implied return)
Created through the merger of two Pacific Northwest banking institutions with deep regional roots, Columbia Banking System (NASDAQ: COLB) operates Umpqua Bank, providing commercial, consumer, and wealth management services across eight western states.
Why Are We Cautious About COLB?
- Sales trends were unexciting over the last two years as its 9.6% annual growth was below the typical banking company
- Performance over the past five years shows its incremental sales were much less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 2.1% annually
- Tangible book value per share tumbled by 1.3% annually over the last five years, showing banking sector trends are working against its favor during this cycle
Columbia Banking System’s stock price of $29.65 implies a valuation ratio of 1x forward P/B. If you’re considering COLB for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
One Stock to Buy:
CrowdStrike (CRWD)
Consensus Price Target: $491.14 (10.2% implied return)
Known for detecting the massive SolarWinds hack in 2020 that compromised numerous government agencies, CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) provides cloud-based cybersecurity solutions that protect endpoints, cloud workloads, identity, and data through its Falcon platform.
Why Do We Love CRWD?
- Billings have averaged 26% growth over the last year, showing it’s securing new contracts that could potentially increase in value over time
- Projected revenue growth of 22.8% for the next 12 months suggests its momentum from the last two years will persist
- User-friendly software enables clients to ramp up spending quickly, leading to the speedy recovery of customer acquisition costs
At $445.55 per share, CrowdStrike trades at 20.4x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
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Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
