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.
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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.

Skeptics of low-priced shares should remember that at one point Amazon, Apple and Netflix traded in the single digits. One stock we featured over the years, Zynga, was purchased by Take-Two Interactive. Cogent Biosciences, which we featured last March, has tripled since then.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for smaller cap companies that could offer patient investors some huge returns for 2023 and beyond. While these five stocks are rated Buy and have a ton of Wall Street coverage, it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

ADT

This top security company is a well-known protector of homes and businesses. ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) is the largest residential and second-largest commercial security monitoring company in North America. The company serves over 7 million customers, installing over a million systems per year. Roughly 94% of revenue is generated in the United States, with the remainder from Canada.

Google announced last year that it was buying a 6.6% stake in the home security firm for $450 million in a deal that will allow it to provide service to customers of its Nest home security devices. ADT said that the companies will work to combine Nest products like cameras, thermostats, doorbells and alarm systems with ADT’s installation, service and professional monitoring network.

Last September, insurance giant State Farm bought a 15% stake in the company. Analysts noted at the time that the partnership leveraged ADT’s smart home devices, including flood detection, smoke alarm and home intrusion devices, and related monitoring services to allow State Farm to offer lower homeowner insurance premiums to reflect risk mitigation efforts.

Citigroup has a price target of $11 on ADT stock. That compares with the $9.60 consensus target and a share price of $8.31 on Friday’s close.

This is a solid energy exploration and production play that could be an outstanding idea now. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) is a deepwater independent oil and gas exploration and production company, focused along the Atlantic Margins.
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The company’s primary assets include production offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as a gas development offshore Mauritania and Senegal. It also maintains a proven basin exploration program.

Kosmos Energy’s focus is on unlocking new hydrocarbon systems and growing and maturing discovered basins through follow-on exploration success, development and production.

Benchmark started coverage on Kosmos Energy stock last week. Its $10 target price is in line with the $10.09 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $8.20 apiece.

Navitas Semiconductor

This company’s breakthrough chip technology makes it a potential takeover candidate. Navitas Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: NVTS) develops ultra-efficient gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, transforming the performance of power electronics. The company primarily sells its GaN integrated circuits (ICs) into mobile markets but is developing technology to supply high-growth areas such as automotive, solar and data centers.

The company was founded in 2014. GaN power ICs integrate GaN power with drive, control, sensing and protection to enable faster charging, higher power density and greater energy savings for mobile, consumer, enterprise, eMobility and new energy markets. Over 150 Navitas patents are issued or pending. Over 50 million units have been shipped with zero reported GaN field failures, and Navitas introduced the industry’s first and only 20-year warranty. Navitas is the world’s first semiconductor company to be CarbonNeutral-company certified.

Navitas Semiconductor stock has a $10 target price at Rosenblatt Securities, the same as the consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $5.33.

This well-known cryptocurrency miner has been destroyed and, for those still positive on digital currencies, it may be a goldmine. Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) focuses on bitcoin mining operations in North America. It operates through Bitcoin Mining, Data Center Hosting and Electrical Products and Engineering segments.
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After the massive blow-up of FTX, many of the top bitcoin miners have been absolutely destroyed, and Riot Blockchain is one of the few companies that many experts in the crypto arena feel can survive this sector destruction. Some have gone as far as to say that, given the company’s micro-cap status (the market cap is only $766 million), it may be a strong takeover candidate for a larger entity looking to enter the crypto world or increase its current holdings.

Roth MKM’s $12 target price is higher than the $10.30 consensus figure. On Friday, Riot Platforms stock closed at $5.51 a share.

Transocean

This is an inexpensive way to buy a deepwater oil drilling stock. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts its drilling rigs, related equipment and work crews to drill oil and gas wells.

As of February 22, 2021, the company owned or had partial ownership interests in and operated a fleet of 37 mobile offshore drilling units, including 27 ultra-deepwater and 10 harsh environment floaters. It serves integrated oil companies, government-owned or government-controlled oil companies, and other independent oil companies.

Over the past year, Transocean has seen some serious insider buying. In that time, the largest single purchase by an insider was when an independent director bought $21 million worth of shares at a price of $4.20 apiece. If the director was bullish at that level, the current trading range still offers a good entry point.

BTIG Research raised its $8 Transocean stock target price to $10 last month. The $5.68 consensus target also is less than Friday’s closing share price of $7.35.

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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.

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