Symantec: Time to Buy or Sell?

Symantec (NYSE: SYMC) has been upgraded by UBS to a "buy" based on improved fundamentals and accelerating growth. I'm sure Symantec is happy to receive the positive analyst sentiment, but should you care?

We've enlisted our Motley Fool CAPS to evaluate the performance of UBS and to help you make a call on Symantec.  

Analyst report card

On CAPS, we evaluate how Wall Street analyst picks perform relative to the market using publicly available information on their calls. In order for an analyst firm's buy or sell rating to be accurate, the stock must outperform or underperform the S&P 500. UBS's picks outperform the market a respectable 52% of the time, and UBS's performance is in the top 10% of all stock pickers measured by Motley Fool CAPS.

Symantec report card

We have some disagreement!
It looks like Wall Street and Main Street are not exactly on the same page about Symantec being poised to outperform the market. Symantec is a two-star stock (one is the lowest CAPS rating, and five is the highest). While 19 Wall Street firms tracked on CAPS rate the stock as likely to outperform, one Wall Street firm that's tracked on CAPS has an active underperform call. Main Street believes Symantec is slightly below average with only two stars, but the CAPS community majority says "outperform."

One of the CAPS members' on the bull case, bytre, makes the case for Symantec:

SYMC is hurting with the declining euro and global recession. It is very well positioned to profit as companies resume storage and security spending. Symantec is cutting edge in many security technologies (reputation, behavioral heuristics) which is becoming more apparent as threats evolve and the commodity vendors' virus definition-based security show their age.

Now, let's see how the CAPS community believes Symantec stacks up to its competition.

Competitors' report card

Make your vote count!
Do you agree Symantec will outperform the market? Click over to CAPS and let the rest of the community know what you think!