Investing

11 Analyst Stock Picks Under $10 With Massive Upside Targets

ten dollar billsThis was another wild week for investors, and the Janet Yellen promise to not raise interest rates immediately or too fast was all the markets needed to end on a strong note. Investors keep buying every dip, a trend that is now set for about three of the past years in this six-year-old bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning and afternoon of the week to find hidden gems for its readers.

Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell. Where we often find true hidden gems, or perhaps unknown stocks, is in those analyst reports covering small-cap stocks and in shares trading at prices under $10.

Investors generally see upside calls of 10% or 20% on Dow or S&P 500 stocks, but they often get to see analysts make upside calls with projections of 50%, 100% or even exponential growth in small-cap and low-priced stocks. With that in mind, investors absolutely positively cannot ignore the fact that these stocks are generally far riskier than Dow or S&P 500 stocks.

Also keep in mind that not all these projections come to fruition. To prove a point, some of this week’s calls feel like “all or none” outlooks — and some of these companies can even flop or disappear in time. Investors often get very excited about upside calls of 50% or more. Still, they need to understand the risky nature of small-cap or low-priced stocks.

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A common mistake in evaluating small caps and low-priced stocks is the belief that they eventually grow into huge companies. That notion is a fallacy in many cases, maybe even in most cases. Generally speaking, low-priced or small-cap stocks are inappropriate for conservative investors — even for moderately conservative investors.

This past week we tracked 11 key analyst calls in stocks that were under $10 where analysts were predicting colossal upside.

Black Diamond Inc. (NASDAQ: BDE) had a strong week, and some of the upside seems to have been taken out by that rally. D.A. Davidson raised its rating to Buy from Neutral and set a $10 price target on Tuesday. The prior close of $7.05 gave an implied upside of nearly 30%. The reason for the move in the extreme sports apparel and equipment company was that it is exploring strategic alternatives. This stock ended the week just shy of $10, with a $326 million market cap and with a $6.25 to $12.60 52-week trading range.

Care.com Inc. (NYSE: CRCM) tried to rally after earnings. Its stock price also has been knocked down handily from its post-IPO levels. We did see a downgrade from J.P. Morgan, but Needham is sticking with its Buy rating. The firm lowered the target to $11 from $13 in the call, and this still implied upside of 51% from the $7.27 mid-Friday trading price. Of course investors need to consider the trajectory here, as the 52-week range is $6.50 to $18.37 — being a bull for Care.com has not yet paid off for investors.

Cerulean Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: CERU) was above $10 on Friday, but it spent most of the week under $10. In fact, it was at $8 before the company’s financial update. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and $15 price target on Friday, while Leerink raised its target to $18 from $13 when it reiterated its Outperform rating.

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Energous Corp. (NASDAQ: WATT) was started in new coverage by Oppenheimer this past week, and it was given a $13 price target. The company is seeking to fix the problems of wired electricity by going to wireless charging. Oppenheimer outlined the risks, but said it has a first mover advantage and does not have the same start-up risks you might see elsewhere. There is still risk as it has no revenues yet, but the call is featured here in more detail.

Information Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ: III) had a strong Friday after posting a profit the prior week. The boutique firm B. Riley started coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $6 price target. After an 8% gain to $4.15 as of midday Friday, this still left an implied upside of 45% — but the implied upside from the prior $3.83 close was 56%. This is very thinly followed, it has a $151 million market cap and its 52-week range is $3.39 to $5.40.

Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: ITEK) had a fairly recent IPO, and the company targeting glaucoma has seen its quiet period end. Shares were trading at $5.75 at Friday’s close. This stock was started as Outperform and given a $15 price target at Cowen. This upside of over 150% seems enormous, so we are including two more calls here: Piper Jaffray started it as Overweight with a $9 target and Nomura assigned a Buy rating and $13 price target. Needless to say, this feels like one of those “all or none” calls.

Neovasc Inc. (NASDAQ: NVCN) announced on Thursday that its Neovasc Reducer has been introduced to select centers in Italy and will shortly be available for routine use at additional sites in Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Shares were up 4% at $9.57 in as trading came to a close on Friday, after Leerink started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $15 price target. Investors should be aware that we have seen no other analyst calls for Neovasc. Its 52-week trading range is $4.50 to $10.12.

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New Gold Inc. (NYSEMKT: NGD) was raised to Buy from Hold at a firm called Dejardins Securities. While we had little information about the details of this call, this is the second week in a row that New Gold was in our Analyst Stocks Under $10 category. The stock maintained as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets in the prior week, with its price target cut to $5.50 from $6.50 in the call. Shares were closer to $3.50 then, but they were up more than 7% at $3.85 at Friday’s close. This is a $1.9 billion market cap gold miner with a 52-week range of $3.22 to $6.78.

NMI Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NMIH) is in the mortgage guaranty business, which is not without risk and not without controversy. Keefe Bruyette & Woods tracks companies solely in the financial services sector and is rather well respected in its field. The firm started coverage of NMI Holdings on Thursday with an Outperform rating and a $9.50 price target. Shares had been at $7.45 prior to the call, and they were actually lower at $7.39 in Friday afternoon trading. This left implied upside of nearly 30%, based on Friday’s trading.

Petrobras Argentina S.A. (NYSE: PZE) was raised to Buy from Underperform with a $9 price target (versus a $6.35 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The analysts were quick to point out that this was “the other Petrobras” to avoid confusion. These American depositary shares were trading at $7.04 on Friday’s close, and it has a 52-week range of $4.32 to $7.40.

Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC in a late-week call. HSBC raised ratings on other gold stocks as well, but Yamana was the one under $10. Yamana is an actively traded gold company with a $3.43 billion market cap. The shares were up less than 6% at $3.91 when trading ended on Friday. Yamana’s shares have a 52-week range of $3.33 to $9.66 and a consensus analyst price target of $5.45.

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In case you missed last weekend’s 8 Analyst Picks Under $10 with huge upside targets, they included AcelRX Pharmaceuticals, Amarin, BioAmber, Corcept Therapeutics, Derma Sciences, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, New Gold and Oncothyreon.

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