Investing

9 Analyst Stock Picks Under $10 With Massive Upside Calls

With Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 Index hitting new highs, investors are now looking for new ideas and value stocks that they might have overlooked. Investors have proven every time this year that they will buy value and stocks on pullbacks or when they are overlooked. With that in mind, 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst calls each morning of the week to find new ideas for our readers.

It turns out that some of the so-called stocks to buy have low share prices and are under $10. This past week, we tracked nine analyst stocks with a share price under $10 and an implied analyst upside that is well above average for typical DJIA or S&P 500 stocks.

Investors need to take extra precautions in low-priced and small cap stocks. Many of these do not have stock options, and many companies are highly speculative. These companies are also less covered by analysts than traditional DJIA and S&P 500 stocks. They are generally much riskier too, and some are so speculative that their business could fail if the analysts are wrong — and sometimes the analysts are very wrong. These low-priced stocks almost never pass the classic “widows and orphans” suitability test.

Now that the warnings and caveats have been stated, low-priced stocks under $10 still are the source of much interest for many investors. Finding the next diamond in the rough or a stock that could have exponential growth in the years ahead is the obvious draw. Some investors believe that there is more potential upside in low-priced and small cap stocks than there is in established companies worth billions and with high share prices. That belief is often misguided, but that is still how some investors view stocks.

FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Sidoti on Monday. The upgrade did not help the slide at the time, as shares were down over 7% and close to $1.54 late on Monday after the call. Alternative energy has been pounded with the price of oil — what does a 52-week trading range of $1.28 to $4.74 tell you? Still, there was positive sector news this week and the stock was up at $1.69 as of Friday’s close, the same as the previous close.

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Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch on Monday. The deals and commerce provider’s price target was raised to $9.50 from $8.00 in the call, which was actually based on a sum of the parts analysis (versus a $7.53 close). Groupon shares ended the week under $7.30, which implies upside of about 30%. The consensus analyst price target is $8.24.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) is one in which it is hard to find many financial bulls on the stock, but the financially stretched wireless carrier was started as Overweight by HSBC on Tuesday, with ratings higher than AT&T and Verizon at the firm. The prior close was $4.87, but shares were down to $4.69 the following day, and the stock ended Friday at $4.85. The $6.30 price target just may simply not have enough allure for some investors when you consider that Sprint has lost money habitually and does not pay any dividend.

Other top analyst stocks trading under $10 were as follows:

Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALDX) is likely riskier than even most other under $10 stocks due to a market cap of less than $50 million, and admittedly it was almost unknown prior to this call. The company is trying developing a novel platform of drug candidates designed to trap aldehydes, which are toxic chemical species implicated in many serious diseases. Ascendiant Capital started coverage on Wednesday with a Buy rating and $16 price target, more than a double in potential upside from the $7.55 close after the call. The stock was at $7.19 on super-thin trading volume at the close on Friday.

Basic Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: BAS) may be caught between a rock and a hard place due to energy exposure. Shares hit a 52-week low after Imperial Capital maintained its Outperform rating on Wednesday but slashed the price target to $14.50 from $23 in the call. Still, the $7.04 price after the 6% post-call drop implies over 100% upside, if they are right on their new target. The price of $6.10 Friday implies even more upside, but investors should know to be extremely cautious in speculative energy stocks at this time. For both sides of the story, the firm Stephens downgraded Basic Energy Services to Equal Weight from overweight on the same day. Its market cap is under $300 million.

E2open Inc. (NASDAQ: EOPN) was given a boost after a Monday call from Northland Securities, which raised shares from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $12, versus a prior close of $6.73. Shares were closer to $7.50 mid-week for the cloud-based and on-demand software solutions provider for supply chain management. Keep in mind that this stock has been slaughtered in 2014, with a 52-week range of $5.31 to $29.82. Shares were up big on Friday, with the stock up more than 6% to $7.75 as of Friday’s close.

ALSO READ: Credit Suisse Sees 2 Biotech Stocks That Could Double in 2015

Fifth Street Finance Corp. (NASDAQ: FSC) may have traded lower after earnings last Monday, but the stock had partially recovered by the end of the week, with its stock at $8.56 as regular trading ended Friday. It turns out that Maxim Group maintained its Buy rating, while it lowered its price target from $11 to $10. Still, that implies 17% upside — plus that high dividend yield. Fifth Street Finance has a 52-week range of $8.16 to $10.20.

Renewable Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI) was not under $10 after the call, but it was beforehand. Roth Capital Partners decided on Tuesday to start coverage with a Buy rating and $17 price target, versus a $9.12 close. It has been hard to find fans of alternative energy (advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals) with oil beaten down so much, but this stock was trading around $10.10 late on Friday, against a 52-week range of $8.51 to $12.89, but it ended the week at $9.85. Shares challenged $10.50 briefly on Wednesday.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK) was maintained as Buy at Stifel on Wednesday after the company beat earnings forecasts earlier in the week. The firm cut the price target to $14 from $16 in the call, but that was versus a $6.46 prior closing bell price, as well as a $7.05 share price at the close on Friday. Assuming the firm is not staying way too optimistic, that means Star Bulk could be a potential double. The consensus analyst target price is $13.83.

ALSO READ: 5 Top Stocks for 2015 From the Stifel Select List

Again, these stocks are far riskier than your traditional well-heeled companies with multibillion dollar market caps and that have had established and steady dividends year after year.

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