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 not only to 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 smaller cap companies that could very well offer patient investors some huge returns into 2022 and beyond. Many of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple and Amazon, once traded in the single digits at one time.

While all five of these 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.

Benson Hill

This off-the-radar play is cheap and holds a ton of potential. Benson Hill Inc. (NYSE: BHIL) operates as a food technology company that unlocks natural genetic diversity of plants. The company offers CropOS, a technology platform that uses artificial intelligence, data and various advanced breeding techniques that combine data, plant and food sciences to deliver crops optimized for nutrition, flavor and yield.

The company’s technology is applied in soybeans and yellow peas. It serves breeders and seed producers, farmers, logistics/consolidates, processors/wholesale suppliers, food/beverage companies, food service providers/retailers and consumers.

Oppenheimer recently initiated coverage and has a $9 price target. The consensus target is just higher at $9.50. The stock closed trading on Friday at $7.41 per share.

This micro-cap play has massive upside potential for aggressive investors. Cardiff Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDF) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops drugs for the treatment of cancer. Its lead drug candidate is onvansertib, a Polo-like Kinase 1 selective adenosine triphosphate competitive inhibitor that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in acute myeloid leukemia. It has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced solid tumors and a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial for metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with Folfiri and Avastin.

The company’s onvansertib is also in Phase 2 clinical trial in combination with Zytiga for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. In addition, the company develops therapeutics, such as belinostat (Beleodaq); quizartinib (AC220), a development stage FLT3 inhibitor; and bortezomib (Velcade) for the treatment of leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumor cancers. The company primarily serves pharmaceutical companies. It has a research collaboration with Nektar Therapeutics for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Baird started coverage this week, though its $19 price target is less than the $23.75 consensus target. The shares last traded at $5.62 on Friday.

Centogene

This is another micro-cap biotech idea with some huge upside potential. Centogene N.V. (NASDAQ: CNTG) focuses on rare diseases that transform real-world clinical and genetic or other data into actionable information for patients, physicians and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

The company develops a rare disease platform, a data repository, which includes epidemiologic, phenotypic and heterogenetic data that enhances methods for identifying and monitoring rare hereditary diseases and provide solutions that accelerate the development of orphan drugs.

Centogene provides various services, including target discovery, early patient recruitment and identification, epidemiological insights, biomarker discovery and patient monitoring, as well as genetic sequencing and diagnostics services to physicians, laboratories or hospitals, directly or through distributors.

The company also offers COVID-19 testing solutions, including RT-PCR and antigen testing services. It has a strategic collaboration with Shire International and Pfizer; a collaboration agreement with Dr. Bauer Laboratoriums, Rostock by providing the medical laboratory services to perform its COVID-19 testing business activities; and a license agreement with Fraport to operate a test center for COVID-19 testing/diagnostics at Frankfurt Airport.

The $15 Baird price target recently was trimmed to $14. The posted consensus target is $15.70, and shares closed trading on Friday at $5.96 apiece.

This very well-known oilfield services stock offers more conservative traders a solid energy play. Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) provides onshore contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments.

The Contract Drilling Services segment markets its contract drilling services, primarily in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, north central and east Texas, northern Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, south Texas, western Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

The Pressure Pumping Services segment offers pressure pumping services that consist of well stimulation for the completion of new wells and remedial work on existing wells, as well as hydraulic fracturing, cementing and acid pumping services in Texas and the Appalachian region.

The Directional Drilling Services segment provides a suite of directional drilling services, including directional drilling and measurement-while-drilling services; supply and rental of downhole performance motors and wireline steering tools; and services that enhance the accuracy of horizontal wellbore placement.

Morgan Stanley has set a $12 target price on Patterson-UTI Energy stock. The consensus target is $11.06, and the stock was last seen trading on Friday at $9.06 up over 7%.

Technip FMC

This is an incredible energy play for investors that may be a touch more conservative. TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE: FTI) engages in the oil and gas projects, technologies and systems and services businesses. It operates through three segments.

The Subsea segment manufactures and designs products and systems; performs engineering, procurement and project management; and provides services used by oil and gas companies involved in deepwater exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas.

The Onshore/Offshore segment designs and builds onshore facilities related to the production, treatment and transportation of oil and gas, and it designs, manufactures and installs fixed and floating platforms for the production and processing of oil and gas reserves.

The Surface Technologies segment designs and manufactures systems, as well as provides services used by oil and gas companies involved in the land and shallow water exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. This segment also designs, manufactures and supplies technologically advanced high-pressure valves and fittings for oilfield service companies, and it provides flowback and well-testing services for exploration and production companies.

The $9 Jefferies price objective is well above the $7.56 consensus figure. TechnipFMC stock was last seen at $6.55 a share on Friday.

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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.

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