What happened

Shares of telecom giant Lumen Technologies (LUMN -6.20%) plunged 25.7% in November, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

It wasn't difficult to ascertain why Lumen fell last month: The company announced on its Nov. 2 earnings call that it suspended its generous dividend. Those earnings weren't any great shakes either, as the company missed on both revenue and earnings-per-share estimates.

Yet, with dividend-focused investors fleeing the stock and a new CEO coming on board, could this cast-off value stock be an opportunity?

So what

In the third quarter, Lumen once again disappointed the markets, with revenue declining 10.2% and non-generally accepted accounting principles (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.14 missing estimates by a wide $0.21.

Given Lumen's continued revenue and profit declines, it's no wonder the company decided to cut its generous $1 billion-per-year dividend.

Yet, all hope may not be lost for Lumen as a business or a stock. The company has a lot of legacy products, such as copper-based broadband and landline phones, which are definitely in decline. On the other hand, Lumen is also investing in new products, like ultra-fast fiberoptic cable broadband, which is growing.

Unfortunately, the business's declining parts are still bigger than the growing ones. However, Lumen's new CEO, former Microsoft executive Kate Johnson, will soon take the reins from prior CEO Jeff Storey.

Johnson will have lots of capital at her disposal to try to accelerate the turnaround. In addition to cutting the dividend, Lumen has sold off some nonstrategic assets this year, including its Latin American business and Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) business in 20 U.S. states. While it will lose the revenue and profits from these businesses, the asset sales will bring in billions that Lumen can deploy either into paying down debt or expanding its growth areas. And while the dividend was cut, Lumen also announced a $1.5 billion repurchase plan to supplant it.

Now what

Lumen's recent operating results have certainly been concerning, but it's definitely a cheap-looking stock. At its current $5.7 billion market cap, the stock trades at only 2.5 times this year's estimated free cash flow!

Of course, a super-cheap valuation also could mean a business is declining toward bankruptcy. While that may be the case, it's highly unlikely it will happen with Lumen anytime soon, given the cash infusion from the recent asset sales and the dividend suspension.

While Lumen may not turn around anytime soon, deep-value investors should definitely pay attention to this forgotten stock -- especially as Johnson takes over and investors get to hear her plan for the future on the next earnings call in February.