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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, founder of space venture Blue Origin and owner of The Washington Post, participates in an event hosted by the Air Force Association September 19, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Shares of some familiar — and not so familiar — stocks were deemed "undervalued" by analysts in their research this week. Those companies range from large to small and include names like Amazon, Asure Software, and Benefitfocus.
CNBC combed through company research to find analysts from different industries singling out stocks in their coverage universes.
Amazon, which is perhaps the biggest name of all, was called "deeply undervalued at current levels," according to analysts at Jefferies. The firm said they believe the, "street underappreciates many of Amazon's embedded growth opportunities and the optionality from new initiatives." The stock compares favorably against its retail and internet peers analyst Brent Thill said.
Shares are up 0.62% this week to $1,849.04.
Asure Software which provides mobile technology solutions, reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and last month reiterated their 2019 financial guidance. That gave the stock some stability, Barrington Research analyst Vincent Colicchio said.
"Trading at a large discount to the peer group average, we believe Asure stock is undervalued," he said.
Another company analysts see as undervalued is Benefitfocus which provides platforms for employers and insurance carriers to manage their plans. "Shares are undervalued, in our view. BNFT's long-term targets for annual revenue growth and EBITDA margin are +20% and +25%, respectively," wrote Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Steven Halper in a recent initiation note. He gave the stock an overweight rating.
Shares were down over 1% Friday to $41.58.
Here's what other stocks analysts say are undervalued:
Jefferies: Amazon, Buy rating
"We think the stock is deeply undervalued at current levels. Despite a slowdown in rev growth, we believe Street underappreciates many of AMZN's embedded growth opportunities and the optionality from new initiatives; While the stock has held back since 4Q18 print on investor concerns about decelerating top line growth and step up in investments...on a growth-adjusted basis the name continues to screen very favorably against Internet and retail peers, and we expect multiples to expand over time."
Barrington Research: Asure Software, Outperform rating
" Following weak earnings results/guidance in Q3/18 and a related decline in its shares, Asure reported better-than-expected Q4/18 earnings results and reiterated its 2019 financial guidance on March 14th, which helped stabilize the stock price. ... .Trading at a large discount to the peer group average, we believe ASUR stock is undervalued. Despite its small size, we believe the large size of its target markets and the economic benefits associated with its acquisition strategy justify a significantly higher multiple. The company's enterprise value is currently trading at 1.8x our 2019 revenue forecast versus the (overall SaaS) peer group mean of 6.8x. To be conservative, we excluded five high multiple outliers from the peer group average."
Cantor Fitzgerald: Benefitfocus, Overweight rating
"Shares are undervalued, in our view. BNFT's long-term targets for annual revenue growth and EBITDA margin are +20% and +25%, respectively. Our DCF model assumptions are more conservative than the company's expectations. Given our price target of $60, we do not believe the shares currently reflect the company's long-term growth potential and addressable market opportunity. Accordingly, we initiate coverage on BNFT shares with an Overweight rating."
Citi: Avangrid, Buy rating
"Reiterate Buy with TP of $63. We continue to believe AGR is significantly undervalued. AGR has a strong Networks business valued at $40/share, renewables platform valued at $18/share, New England Clean Energy Connect Project, Offshore wind and Tax assets valued at $10/share and parent debt at ($5)/share. The sum-of-parts translates to our TP of $63/share. AGR currently trades at a ~20% discount to fundamentals. As management continues to execute on its growth projects, we think this discount will continue to shrink."
