While most of Wall Street focuses on large-cap 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 is difficult 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.
[in-text-ad]
We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for smaller cap companies that could very well offer patient investors some huge returns the rest of 2021 and beyond. Many of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple and Amazon, traded in the single digits at one time.

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

Arcos Dorados

This company may be way under the radar, but it has one of the best products imaginable in terms of name recognition. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO) is the world’s largest independent McDonald’s franchisee.

The company has the exclusive right to own, operate and grant franchises of McDonald’s restaurants in 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. As of December 31, 2020, it operated or franchised 2,236 restaurants.

JPMorgan has an $8.50 price target, and the Wall Street consensus target is $6.55. The shares closed Friday at $5.95.

Axcella Health

This clinical-stage biotechnology company received some big patent news recently. Axcella Health Inc. (NASDAQ: AXLA) researches and develops endogenous metabolic modulators for the treatment of complex diseases and improving health in the United States.

The company offers AXA1665 for use in treating overt hepatic encephalopathy, and AXA1125 and AXA1957 to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. It also develops AXA4010, a hematology product candidate, and AXA2678, a muscle product candidate.

The company recently announced that it has activated initial clinical sites and patient screening for its global Phase 2 clinical trial of AXA1665, the company’s multi-targeted oral product candidate for the reduction in risk of recurrent overt hepatic encephalopathy.

H.C. Wainwright recently started coverage with a massive $14 price target, but that pales next to the even larger $15.13 consensus target. The final trade Friday came in at $4.06 up over 4%.

Jaguar Health

Despite little name recognition, this could be a home run for aggressive investors. Jaguar Health Inc. (NASDAQ: JAGX), a commercial-stage pharmaceuticals company, focuses on developing prescription medicines for people and animals with gastrointestinal distress, specifically chronic, debilitating diarrhea.

Through its subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, the company focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary plant-based human gastrointestinal pharmaceuticals from plants harvested responsibly from rainforest areas. It markets Mytesi, a crofelemer 125 mg delayed-release tablet for the symptomatic relief of noninfectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy.
Jaguar Health develops Mytesi for multiple possible follow-on indications, including diarrhea related to targeted cancer therapy; orphan-drug indications for infants and children with congenital diarrheal disorders and short bowel syndrome; supportive care for inflammatory bowel disease; irritable bowel syndrome; and for idiopathic/functional diarrhea, as well as a second-generation proprietary anti-secretory agent is in development for cholera. The company also develops Crofelemer, a drug product candidate for chemotherapy-induced diarrhea in dogs.

Cantor Fitzgerald just started coverage with a large $5 price target, which tops the $4.50 consensus target. The last trade to hit the tape Friday was reported at $1.65 up almost 5%.
[in-text-ad]

Lantronix

This company is producing solid revenue and is a great idea for aggressive traders. Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) provides software as a service (SaaS), engineering services and hardware for edge computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and remote environment management in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere.

The company’s products include IoT Connectivity, which provide wired and wireless connections that enhance the value and utility of modern electronic systems and equipment through secure network connectivity, application hosting, protocol conversion, secure access for distributed IoT deployments and various other functions. Its SaaS platform enables customers to deploy, monitor, manage and automate across their global deployments through a single platform login.

The company offers its products through value added resellers, systems integrators, distributors, online retailers and original equipment manufacturers, as well as an e-commerce site for direct sales.

The $6.50 Needham target price is lower than the $7.33 consensus figure. Fridays last trade came in at $5.59 up almost 5%.

9 Meters Biopharma

This is another micro-cap biotech that could be a huge winner. 9 Meters Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: NMTR) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on patients with rare and unmet needs in gastroenterology. Its pipeline includes drug candidates for short bowel syndrome (SBS) and celiac disease, as well as for undisclosed rare diseases or unmet needs.

The company is developing Larazotide, an 8-amino acid peptide, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of celiac disease. Its NM-002 is a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat SBS. It also develops NM-102, a small molecule peptide; NM-003, a proprietary long-acting glucagon-like peptide-2; and NM-004, a double-cleaved mesalamine with an immunomodulator for rare and orphan indications. 9 Meters Biopharma has a collaboration with the Duke Clinical Research Institute to support the clinical development of NM-002.

BMO Capital Markets started coverage this week with a huge $5 price target. The consensus target is $4.50. The shares were last seen Friday at $1.19.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

These are five stocks for aggressive investors looking to get share count leverage on companies that have sizable upside potential. While not suited for all investors, they are not penny stocks with absolutely no track record or liquidity, and major Wall Street firms have research coverage.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.