While most of Wall Street focuses on large and mega-cap stocks, as they provide a degree of safety and liquidity, many investors are limited in the number of shares they can buy. Many of the biggest public companies, especially the technology giants, trade in the hundreds, all the way up to over $1,000 per share or more. At those steep prices, it’s pretty hard to get any decent share count leverage.

Many investors, especially more aggressive traders, look at lower-priced stocks as a way to not only make some good money but to get a higher share count. That can really help the decision-making process, especially when you are on to a winner, as you can always sell half and keep half.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for well-known banks and brokerage firms that are likely to survive the current troubles and could very well offer patient investors some huge returns over the next year or so. Patient investors that did that in 2008 and 2009 absolutely killed it over the next few years.

While all four of the stocks are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms, it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Barclays

Shares of this top broker-dealer offer some solid upside for investors. Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) provides various financial products and services in the United Kingdom, other European countries, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International divisions. Its financial services include retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services.

Barclays also engages in securities dealing activities and issues credit cards. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name in January 1985. Barclays was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London.

BofA Securities has a Buy rating and a $7.13 price target. The Wall Street consensus target is $6.90, and this past week Barclays stock dropped below $5.50 for the first time in a month.

ING

This top financial stock makes good sense for investors looking for value. ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING) operates through Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other and Wholesale Banking segments. The company accepts various deposits, such as current and savings accounts; and offers business lending, consumer lending and lease products.

ING also provides mortgages; corporate, structured and real estate financing services; financial markets products; and cash management, transaction and trade finance services, as well as working capital solutions. It operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, elsewhere in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

BofA Securities has a Buy rating and a price target of $9.10, below the $16.20 consensus target. ING stock slipped below $7 late last week.

Mizuho Financial

This Japanese banking leader offers aggressive investors the ability to take a big position. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: MFG) engages in banking, trust, securities and other businesses related to financial services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia/Oceania and elsewhere.

Mizuho is the third-largest bank by profits and average daily trading value, as well as fourth by market capitalization. It provides comprehensive financial services focusing on retail, corporate and investment banking, trust banking, asset management and securities businesses. Key group members include Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Trust & Banking, Mizuho Securities, Asset Management One and UC Card.

The Zacks Buy rating comes with a $3 price objective, which is near the $3.04 consensus target. Mizuho Financial stock sank below $2.50 on Friday.

Nomura

This is another huge Japanese financial company and could be the best buy of all. Nomura Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NMR) is Japan’s largest brokerage/investment bank, and it provides various financial services to individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments and governmental agencies worldwide. It operates through three segments.

The Retail segment offers various financial products and investment services for individuals and corporations. As of March 31, 2020, this segment operated a network of 128 branches. The Asset Management segment engages in the development and management of investment trusts and provision of investment advisory services for pension funds and other institutional clients. The Wholesale segment is involved in the research, sale, trading, agency execution and market-making of fixed income and equity-related products.

The $5.75 Jefferies price target is higher than the consensus estimate of $5.52. Nomura stock traded above $5 last week for the first time since the market sell-off in March.

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These four well-known financial companies that have all been sent to the single-digit midget penalty box. Some of them may have a difficult road back to prosperity, but given what we have seen in the past, and the massive liquidity being provided by Washington, D.C., the odds are good that each survives this downturn.

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