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.
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We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for smaller cap companies that could very well offer patient investors some huge returns for the rest of 2022 and beyond. Skeptics of low-priced shares should remember that at one point both Amazon and Apple traded in the single digits. One stock we featured over the years, Zynga, recently was purchased by Take-Two Interactive.
While all five 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.
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B2Gold
This is a small-cap gold stock for aggressive investors looking for sector exposure. B2Gold Corp. (NYSE: BTG | BTG Price Prediction) is a global, growth-oriented mid-tier gold producer whose primary assets include gold mines located in Nicaragua (La Libertad and El Limon), the Philippines (Masbate) and Namibia (Otjikoto) and Mali (Fekola).
During the third quarter, the company recorded consolidated gold production of 295,723 ounces, up 19% year over year on solid performance across three of its operating mines. B2Gold increased throughput at the Fekola mill and completed the significant waste stripping campaigns at both Fekola and Otjikoto mines. Those mines achieved record quarterly gold production in the third quarter of 2021.
B2Gold stock investors receive a 3.98% dividend. BofA Securities has a price target of $5.85, in line with the $5.87 consensus target. The stock last traded on Friday at $4.08.
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Clean Energy Fuels
This stock looks to be breaking a long-term downtrend line, which bodes well for the shares. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) provides natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions, primarily in the United States and Canada.
The company supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles, and it offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations.
Clean Energy Fuels also designs, builds, operates and maintains fueling stations. It sells and services compressors and other equipment that are used in fueling stations, and it provides assessment, design and modification solutions to offer operators with code-compliant service and maintenance facilities for natural gas vehicle fleets.
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In addition, the company transports and sells CNG and LNG through virtual natural gas pipelines and interconnects; procures and sells RNG; sells tradable credits, such as RNG and conventional natural gas as a vehicle fuel comprising Renewable Identification Numbers and Low Carbon Fuel Standards credits; enables its customers to acquire and finance natural gas vehicles; and obtains federal, state and local credits, grants and incentives.
Evercore ISI’s $11 price target for Clean Energy Fuels stock is lower than the $13.21 consensus target. On Friday shares closed trading at $6.95 apiece up almost 7%.
Helix Energy Solutions
This is an oil industry services stock that holds solid value at current trading levels. Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE: HLX) is an offshore energy services company that provides specialty services to the industry, primarily in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and the Asia Pacific and West Africa regions.
The company engineers, manages and conducts well intervention operations that include production enhancement and abandonment and construction in water depths ranging from 200 to 10,000 feet. It offers remotely operated vehicles, trenchers and drills for offshore construction and well intervention services. It also provides intervention engineering; inspection, repair and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines, subsea equipment and related support services. In addition, the company offers reclamation and remediation services, well plug and abandonment services, pipeline abandonment services and site inspections.
Helix Energy also engages in the installation of flowlines, control umbilicals and manifold assemblies and risers; trenching and burial of pipelines; installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly; commissioning, testing and inspection activities; and provision of cable and umbilical lay and connection services. Additionally, the company offers oil and natural gas processing facilities and services to oil and gas companies, as well as a fast response system. It serves independent oil and gas producers and suppliers, pipeline transmission companies, renewable energy companies and offshore engineering and construction firms.
The $5.60 Piper Sandler price target compares with the $5.48 consensus target for Helix Energy Solutions stock. The shares last traded at $3.88 on Friday.
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Skillsoft
This company has attracted a ton of attention across Wall Street. Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE: SKIL) provides corporate digital learning services in the United States and internationally. Its enterprise learning solutions prepare organizations for the future of work, as well as enable them to overcome critical skill gaps, drive demonstrable behavior change and unlock the potential in their greatest assets.
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Skillsoft provides a comprehensive suite of content, including a library of authorized technology and developer curricula and multiple learning modalities that dramatically increase learner engagement and retention.
The Colliers Securities target price is $13, and the consensus price target is $13.40. Skillsoft stock was last seen on Friday at $6.46 a share, up close to 4%.
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SomaLogic
This stock was hit hard at the end of last year and looks to be clawing its way back. SomaLogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SLGC) operates as a protein biomarker discovery and clinical diagnostics company in the United States. It develops slow-off-rate modified aptamers (SOMAmers), which are modified nucleic acid-based protein-binding reagents that are specific for their cognate protein. It also offers proprietary SomaScan services, which provide multiplex protein detection and quantification of protein levels in complex biological samples.
The company’s SOMAmers/SomaScan technology enables researchers to analyze various types of biological samples for protein biomarker signatures, which can be utilized in drug discovery and development. Its SomaScan’s biomarker discoveries help in diagnostic applications in various areas of diseases, including cardiovascular and metabolic disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, wellness and others.
The company’s solutions also include SomaSignal tests, which are research use only tests for clinical trial applications. It serves research and clinical customers, with a focus on pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic research institutions. It also facilitates drug development, analysis of clinical trials and new human biology insights by assessing protein-protein and protein-gene networks.
Stifel recently started coverage and has a $12 target price. The consensus target is even higher at $16.25. The stock closed at $9.01 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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