Cybersecurity, and the protection of critical data, is one of the most significant megatrends shaping the modern economy, asserts Sean Brodrick, editor of Wealth Megatrends — and a participant in The MoneyShow Orlando Conference on June 10-12. Learn more here.

With bad actors looking to steal valuable information or cripple vital infrastructure, it’s more important than ever to protect both corporate and national interests.

We recently saw just how important network and cloud security is when a group of cybercriminals performed a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline and threatened to leak sensitive business information online.

Ransomware is a widespread problem, with different surveys revealing that 50% of IT professionals believe their companies were underequipped to defend themselves, and 90% had clients who were targeted.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) sells hardware products such as wireless routers, switches and accessories, but it also provides network management and security solutions.

Its network hardware business is aided by a major shift to remote working, and many of the jobs that are traditionally done in an office setting can be completed remotely forever. This creates an even greater need for secure wireless networks because company data is no longer confined to a single network in an office setting.

Juniper’s network security offerings include firewall services for private, hybrid and public cloud infrastructures, threat prevention, data analytics and identity management.

An industry leader, Juniper received CyberRatings’ highest grade on its Enterprise Firewall assessment. Its clients include Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc (London: AML), Bloomberg and Zoom Video (ZM). It also provides services to smaller businesses.

By servicing a wide range of clients with differing needs, Juniper is able to cement itself as a major player by capitalizing on most of the emerging industry needs.

On the basis of blended forward price-to-earnings, enterprise value-to-EBITDA and enterprise value-to-revenue multiples, Juniper trades at discounts of 14%, 18% and 42%, respectively. This leaves exceptional room for growth, especially considering the critical nature of the industry and its projected future expansion.

The company consistently beats consensus forecasts, with 12 of its last 14 announcements surprising to the upside on earnings per share (EPS) and 16 of the last 20 quarters beating on revenue.

First-quarter 2021 EPS of 30 cents and revenue of $1.07 beat estimates by 19% and 2%, respectively. Full-year earnings are projected to grow 20% from 2020.

Juniper is one of the few companies engaging in cybersecurity operations for corporations that pays a dividend. It yields more than 3%, and it consistently raised the payout before the pandemic hit last year.

Management hasn’t announced a dividend increase since the fourth quarter of 2019. But it should resume annual increases as of the first quarter of 2022. From there, analysts expect Juniper to grow its dividend 4% per year through 2024.

You can see Juniper has rallied since the pandemic low in March 2020. More recently, it pushed through overhead resistance. This kind of breakout gives me a target of $41.50. That’d be a nice move. The Force Index is bullish and getting more so — a sign momentum is on our side.

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