Rarely has a fat bank balance seemed less impressive than it has during the past year. Its owner likely rented his savings for less than 1% in annual return. He has also missed out on the mother of all rallies in shares; U.S. ones now fetch 35% more than they did a year ago.

The three cash-rich companies below perhaps deserve scorn more than pity. They could have invested more of their riches into their own stock when prices were low, or better yet, they could have paid it to stockholders, giving them the choice of whether to reinvest in the same shares or buy others. Instead, they hoarded.

Now, with risky assets looking richly priced the world over, perhaps these oversized cash stockpiles that went to waste over the past year will have another chance to perform. If the broad stock market tumbles, the companies below will be poised to repurchase their shares or buy rivals. If the market remains on solid footing, managers at these companies will hopefully part with dividends before paying too much for takeovers.

Dell

Personal computer sales plunged a year ago. In the second half of 2009, consumer orders picked up a bit. Businesses still aren t spending much on new machines, though. Dell, which depends heavily on corporate customers, trades now at just 14 times last year s profit, a discount of a third to the broad stock market. The company spent the past year reducing operating costs, and bought Perot Systems, a technology services specialist, for $3.9 billion in cash. Perot brings plenty of government and health-care customers, whose technology investments are expected to grow as the U.S. modernizes its health-care administration. However, Dell paid a rich 30 times earnings for the company. This could be a lucrative year for Dell, as businesses are lured by a new version of Microsoft s Windows operating system to upgrade their aging computers. If the company were to begin paying a third of its profit as a dividend, the stock s yield would top 2.5%. It can afford plenty more, of course. Dell holds about one-third of its stock market value as net cash.

Activision Blizzard

Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard announced that sales of its "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" videogame have topped $1 billion. For purposes of comparison, director James Cameron s film "Avatar" has brought in ticket sales of more than $1.6 billion since its December release, putting it on pace to top the world-wide box office record of $1.8 billion set by "Titanic." In other words, top videogames sell almost as well as hit movies and are much cheaper to produce. Activision splits none of the profit with stockholders through dividends, and its stock has underperformed the broad market over the past year. The firm now holds around a quarter of its stock market value in cash.

Forest Laboratories

On Tuesday, Forest Laboratories announced sales and earnings that easily beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31. The company s blockbuster depression pill, Lexapro, faces a 2012 patent expiration, but analysts say Forest has used its strong cash flow in recent years to build an impressive pipeline of drugs in late-stage development. Shares trade at eight times forecast 2010 profits. Forest holds cash and marketable securities worth 40% of its stock market value. If the company s present pace of cash generation holds, that figure could rise to 50% by this time next year.