With April just around the corner, investors are about to close the book on the March quarter. It's been an eventful quarter which included the all-important February reporting season but despite the daily twists and turns, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) won't have much to show for it with the index set to finish the month practically flat.
In the midst of a flat overall market however, there are of course many stocks which have fared far better and also far worse. The following six stocks have all fallen over 20% since the 1 January. While they obviously are all facing issues, hence the battering to their share prices, in time the current prices could come to look like bargains.
Aspen Group Limited (ASX: APZ) has faced a number of write-downs to the carrying value of its assets but management is obviously working hard to restore value to shareholders including in the form of a substantial buyback. Major shareholder Allan Gray appears to like what it sees, with the fund manager upping its stake in the property developer from 18% to 19.5%.
Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) is a much better business than many of its mining services peers. A major reason for this is the firm's focus on supplying and servicing consumable products for earth moving equipment which means Bradken is more exposed to production volumes rather than new ventures.
Mermaid Marine Australia Limited (ASX: MRM) offers highly skilled services to the offshore oil and gas industry. Mermaid Marine is currently in the midst of a company transforming acquisition which in the long-term could turn out to be value accretive for shareholders.
Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) reported a solid result from its gold mining operations for the half year ending 31 December 2013. While the company has experienced a major flooding event which will affect production volumes this year, for investors who are bullish on the gold price, Regis could provide good leverage.
Acrux Limited (ASX: ACR) presumably isn't living up to investors' expectations, judging by the 33% slump in the company's share price this calendar year. The drug developer's flagship product Axiron continues to increase sales however, with Acrux expected to receive another milestone payment this year. With a pipeline of other drugs in development, Acrux is worth monitoring.
Foolish takeaway
It's always worth approaching cheap stocks with care as they can always get cheaper and assuming they are experiencing some difficulties, more difficulties can (and regularly do) develop. However by monitoring stocks which have fallen, astute investors can sometimes snare a bargain.
