While most of Wall Street focuses on large 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. Some of the most significant public companies, especially the technology giants, trade in the low to mid-hundreds to close to $1000. It’s hard to get decent share count leverage at those steep prices.

Many investors, especially more aggressive traders, look at lower-priced stocks to make good money and get a higher share count. That can help the decision-making process, especially when you are on to a winner, as you can always sell half of the position and keep half.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database, looking for companies trading under $15 that could offer patient investors enormous returns for the rest of 2024 and beyond. For low-price stock skeptics, many of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple, Amazon, and NetFlix, all traded in single digits at once.

Arbor Realty Trust

This company trades at a ridiculous 6.9 times trailing earnings and pays a massive 12.49% dividend. Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE: ABR) invests in a diversified portfolio of structured finance assets in the multifamily, single-family rental, and commercial real estate markets in the United States.

The company operates in two segments:

• Structured Business
• Agency Business

Arbor Realty Trust primarily invests in:

• Bridge and mezzanine loans
• Junior participating interests in first mortgages and preferred and direct equity
• Real estate-related joint ventures
• Actual estate-related notes
• Various mortgage-related securities.

The company offers:

• Bridge financing products to borrowers who seek short-term capital to be used in the acquisition of property
• Financing by making preferred equity investments in entities that directly or indirectly own real property
• Mezzanine financing in the form of loans that are subordinate to a conventional first mortgage loan and senior to the borrower’s equity in a transaction
• Junior participation financing in the form of a junior participating interest in the senior debt
• Financing products to borrowers who are looking to acquire conventional, workforce, and affordable single-family housing

Further, it underwrites, originates, sells, and services multifamily mortgage loans through conduit/commercial mortgage-backed securities programs.

Energy Transfer

The top master limited partnership is a safe way for investors looking for energy exposure and income, as the company pays a massive 8.71% distribution. Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, with a strategic footprint in all of the major domestic production basins.

The company is a publicly traded limited partnership with core operations that include:

• Complementary natural gas midstream, intrastate, and interstate transportation and storage assets
• Crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), and refined product transportation and terminalling assets
• NGL fractionation
• Various acquisition and marketing assets.

After the purchase of Enable Partners in December of 2021, Energy Transfer owns and operates more than 114,000 miles of pipelines and related assets in all of the major U.S. producing regions and markets across 41 states, further solidifying its leadership position in the midstream sector.

Through its ownership of Energy Transfer Operating, L.P., formerly known as Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., the company also owns Lake Charles LNG Company, as well as the general partner interests, the incentive distribution rights, and 28.5 million standard units of Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN), and the public partner interests and 39.7 million standard units of USA Compression Partners L.P. (NYSE: USAC).

KeyCorp

This top regional bank is very cheap at current levels for investors looking at financials and pays a hefty 5.60% dividend. KeyCorp. (NYSE: KEY) operates as the bank holding company for KeyBank National Association and provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses under KeyBank National Association.

KeyCorp also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as:

• Merger and acquisition advice
• Public and private debt and equity
• Syndications
• Derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under KeyBanc Capital Markets

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

This could be an outstanding total return play, and investors receive a massive 10.70% dividend. PennantPark Investment (NASDAQ: PNNT) is a business development company. It seeks to make secondary direct, debt, equity, and loan investments.

The fund seeks to invest through floating rate loans in private or thinly traded or small market-cap, public middle market companies. It primarily invests in the United States and, to a limited extent, non-U.S. companies.

The fund typically invests between $2 million and $20 million.

PennantPark Floating Rate also invests in:

• Equity securities
• Preferred stock
• Common stock
• Warrants or options received in connection with debt investments or through direct investments.

It primarily invests between $10 million and $50 million in senior secured loans and mezzanine debt.

The fund invests 30% in non-qualifying assets like investments in:

• Public companies whose securities are not thinly traded or do not have a market capitalization of less than $250 million
• Securities of middle-market companies located outside of the United States
• High-yield bonds
• Distressed debt
• Private Equity
• Securities of public companies that are not thinly traded
• Investment companies

Under normal conditions, the fund expects at least 80 percent of its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes to be invested in floating-rate loans and investments with similar economic characteristics, including cash equivalents invested in money market funds.

It expects to represent 65 percent of its portfolio through senior secured loans. In the case of floating rate loans, it holds investments for three to ten years.

Vale

This excellent commodity play pays investors a stellar 8.93% dividend. Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) and its subsidiaries produce and sell iron ore and pellets as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally.

The company operates through two segments:

• Iron Solutions
• Energy Transition Materials

The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore, pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products and provides related logistic services.

The Energy Transition Materials segment:

• Produces and extracts nickel used to produce stainless steel, electric vehicles
• Metal alloys by-products, such as gold, silver, cobalt, precious metals, platinum
• Copper is used in the construction sector to produce pipes and electrical wires

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