Investing

8 Stocks That Analysts Think Will Double

Now that October has arrived, 24/7 Wall St. wanted to review some of the most aggressive recent analyst calls. It doesn’t get much more aggressive than calling a stock a potential double, so that is where we drew the line. Many other aggressive analyst calls have been made in recent weeks and we have tracked eight stocks where analysts from known firms have called on a stock to double.

24/7 Wall St. tracks dozens of analyst reports and analyst calls each day of the week, which ends up being hundreds of analyst calls by the end of each week. All the following calls were made throughout the month of September. These are shown here in alphabetical order, and the date or timing of each call has been offered up so that readers do not mistake these for breaking news calls.

Included was a share price at the end of September, a target price, the firm making the call, a consensus price target (if available) and a 52-week trading range. This shows the implied upside and where the stock has traded relative to each analyst call.

These are the eight analyst calls we have tracked in recent weeks in which analysts think that the underlying stocks could rise by 100% or more.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) was started as Buy with a $5 price target at Deutsche Bank in mid-September. While the shares were at $3.00 at the time, DryShips is a volatile stock and its shares closed out on September 30 at $2.47. The Deutsche Bank research on the sector was very positive at the time, with 2015 expected to be a solid year for growth across shipping. DryShips shares have traded in a 52-week range of $2.44 to $5.00. A move to the Deutsche Bank target would be just over 100% — and it is worth noting that the street-high analyst price target is that $5 target.

ALSO READ: 8 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Massive Upside Calls

Nxt-ID Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTD) has seen its shares whip around of late on the Apple Pay news and on the Wocket hopes. The last day of September brought a 7% rally in the stock to $2.56, after a firm called Northland Securities initiated coverage of the sub-$100 million stock with an Outperform rating and with a $6 price target. Investors should know that Nxt-ID shares have traded in a 52-week range of $1.36 to $7.25, and it has warrants trading as NXTDW after a recent capital raise. This would represent 134% upside if the firm’s target is realized, but we would also note that Northland was in the underwriting syndicate with Benchmark and Newport Coast Securities for a small financing on September 10. We have asked before: What is a fair price for this stock?

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) was part of a Cowen grouped call among its top clean tech stocks we covered in the middle of September. Cowen’s target price was $29 at the time, and the consensus price target on Tuesday was almost $30. A drop of more than 6% to $13.96 on September 30 now puts the ethanol player in the potential double category. Be advised that the Thomson Reuters shows only three analysts covering this stock, and its 52-week trading range is $2.33 to $23.97.

Penn Virginia Corp. (NYSE: PVA) was a stock we featured in mid-September that could be considered a SunTrust home run if the firm is right. This outfit is an independent oil and gas company that primarily focuses on developing the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas, with George Soros as a sizable shareholder. SunTrust gave a $28 price objective for the stock, and the consensus target is now currently just under $21. Shares closed out September at $12.71, and its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $6.50 to $18.20.

Repros Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RPRX) was featured by a firm we generally do not see make calls for stocks to double: Merrill Lynch issued a report on September 29 calling it a double after maintaining its Buy rating and a whopping $24 price target. With September’s close-out price of $9.90, this implies upside of about 140%, if the firm is correct. Amazingly, Repros has a consensus price target even higher, above $28, and the 52-week range is $8.46 to $27.52.

Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NYSE: SALT) was started as Buy at Deutsche Bank in mid-September. The company’s fleet of cargo ships transports a range of major and minor bulk commodities, including ores, coal, grains and fertilizers, along worldwide shipping routes. Deutsche Bank has put a solid $12 price target for the stock, which was trading at $7.21 at the end of that week — but Scorpio Bulkers was trading at $5.92 late in the day on the last day of September. Scorpio Bulkers shares have traded in a 52-week range of $5.75 to $10.73.

TearLab Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAR) was reiterated as Buy with a $8 price target at Canaccord Genuity on September 24. The firm’s call is based on its new “flex” agreement sales program and updated R&D road map. TearLab shares closed out September at $3.40 and have traded in a 52-week range of $3.29 to $12.39. If Canaccord is correct, this represents 135% upside.

Wet Seal Inc. (NASDAQ: WTSL) is what investors should consider as an “all or none call.” Back on September 11, B. Riley raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $1.50 price target. Shares were closer to $0.75 at the time, but now shares ended September at $0.525 after a drop of more than 5% on the last day of the month. Wet Seal has a 52-week range of $0.50 to $4.11, but investors need to take a serious warning here that Wet Seal now is riskier than almost all retail stocks and there are no assurances it will survive in the years ahead.

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As a reminder, low-priced and small-cap stocks are among the riskiest of all stocks. It is far from normal to see analysts issue upside calls of 50% or more. This means that seeing upside calls for a stock to rise 100% or more needs to come with the understanding that there is much more risk than normal. These would be far from suitable in a “widows and orphans” suitability test. One last reminder: it is always possible that some of the analyst targets have changed or will soon change in a manner in which the “double scenario” no longer exists.

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