Who let the dogs out?

Let sleeping dogs lie…or should we?

At the beginning of 2012, we did a series on stocks that were analyst "darlings" but performed like "market dogs." These were companies that had a bevy of "buy" recommendations from the analysts that provide coverage but were either flirting with the 52-week low list or had significantly underperformed the markets (and expectations).

Since that week in early January, the S&P 500 is up almost 10% while the S&P/TSX Composite is essentially flat (down 0.5%).

But how are our dogs doing?

We profiled seven companies. Four have substantially outperformed (Gildan +66%, Chorus +22%, Brookfield +20% and Citigroup +23%). Two are essentially flat (Freeport-McMoRan and Thomson Reuters) and one is down 10% (Romarco Minerals).

Not a bad showing for the "dogs" and for the analysts that loved them.

We did a similar review of a different animal in August ("pigs") -- we’ll follow up with their performance in a few months. We’ll also reprise our series on the darlings and the dogs in January 2013.

Remember, there’s always more than one way to skin a market cat!