Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now

tags:KSS,CMP,RCII,GD,XPO,UNH,WEN,SIRI,IBM,USG,

Penny stocks – those stocks that trade for low prices, often with share prices of less than a dollar per share – are dangerous. Period. Indeed, with a few exceptions, investors should steer clear of these uber-cheap stocks, which typically trade over-the-counter and not on a major exchange.

Call them penny stocks, microcaps or OTC stocks; by any name, they're bad news. Promises of quick and easy riches are easier to fall for when an investment can be made with so little money up front. An investor might think, "How risky could it be?"

Plenty. Per the Securities and Exchange Commission: "Academic studies find that OTC stocks tend to be highly illiquid; are frequent targets of alleged market manipulation; generate negative and volatile investment returns on average; and rarely grow into a large company or transition to listing on a stock exchange."

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  The relationship between the P/E ratio and the dividend yield is important to understand here. The lower a company's valuation is, the more valuable the dividend becomes as the dividend yield increases. For instance, with a P/E ratio of about 12, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) could be considered a value stock, and its dividend yields a respectable 3.9%. Its payout ratio -- the percentage of earnings that go to its dividend or dividend per share divided by earnings per share -- is also modest at 48%. Eighty percent is considered the maximum that dividend stocks should aim for in order to leave adequate cash flow for other needs.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  In this episode of Industry Focus: Consumer Goods, Vincent Shen and senior Motley Fool contributor Adam Levine-Weinberg dive into the latest developments from Macy's (NYSE:M), Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), and Dillard's (NYSE:DDS), which have all enjoyed bullish rallies of 30% in the past month.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  And with just a few smart plays in today's classic stock picker's market, you can pull in triple-digit gains with just a small investment.

  The Top Stock Market Stories for Monday Today will feature a light day of earnings reports, but things will heat up later this week for traditional retail stocks. We'll be looking for stronger earnings thanks to improved consumer confidence and spending. Retail firms reporting earnings include Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Ross Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), and TJX Co. Inc. (NYSE: TJX). PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) announced it will purchase the at-home carbonated drink manufacturer SodaStream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA) in a deal worth $3.2 billion. The news sent SODA shares up 32% this morning and gives Pepsi a distribution channel to reach customers outside of traditional stores and vending machines. Pepsi appears to be getting out ahead of the growing trend of consumers purchasing groceries online instead of at traditional retail locations. Shares of PEP added 0.4% before the opening bell. Football season is now just three weeks away from kicking off. And America's top spectator sport is trying to resurrect itself from an ongoing public relations battle over the National Anthem. Here's the thing: Esports don't face such a problem… and they are on their way to becoming the world's largest sport in the world – scoring more fans than baseball, basketball, football, and soccer combined within two decades. Best of all, we found the perfect stock to help Money Morning readers cash in on this booming trend. Follow topicMorning Market Alert

  Morning Market Alert

• [By ]

  Macy's (M) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley, which is hurting shares of Kohl's (KSS) , according to TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) by 3.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 325,416 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,625 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Kohl’s were worth $21,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By ]

  It's a smart move. Instead of going more upscale to try and compete with the fancier boutiques, Macy's is now emulating the discount model that has served Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) and TJX Cos. (NYSE:TJX) so well.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Compass Minerals Intl Inc(CMP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.33.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Compcoin (CURRENCY:CMP) traded flat against the US dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 11:00 AM E.T. on October 13th. During the last seven days, Compcoin has traded up 12.6% against the US dollar. One Compcoin coin can currently be purchased for approximately $12.20 or 0.00130307 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges. Compcoin has a total market cap of $0.00 and approximately $0.00 worth of Compcoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

• [By Motley Fool Transcription]

  Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Feb. 12, 2019, 10:00 a.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) was downgraded by investment analysts at ValuEngine from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  AerCap (NYSE: AER) and Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  An issue of Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) bonds fell 1% against their face value during trading on Thursday. The high-yield issue of debt has a 6.625% coupon and will mature on November 15, 2020. The debt is now trading at $99.07 and was trading at $100.50 one week ago. Price moves in a company’s bonds in credit markets often predict parallel moves in its stock price.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Rent-A-Center Inc (NASDAQ:RCII) by 52.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,200 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp owned about 0.14% of Rent-A-Center worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Rent-A-Center (RCII)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: S&P GSCI(GD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Five years ago, General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) was struck by disaster.

  Years of acquisitions in the IT space, designed to turn the defense giant best known for its battle tanks and nuclear submarines into a cybersecurity specialist, had failed to produce significant profit growth. Instead, realizing that it had overpaid for its new subsidiaries, General D acknowledged its mistake, took a $2.9 billion charge to earnings, fired its IT division head (or allowed him to retire "to pursue new professional opportunities"), and reported only its second full-year net loss in the last 30 years.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Summit Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 26.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,470 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Lou Whiteman]

  Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) are two of the most interesting defense companies to watch right now, each with an impressive list of programs benefiting from increased Pentagon spending but each with issues that have caused investor concerns.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Express-1 Expedited Solutions Inc.(XPO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Bank of America in a research note issued on Friday. They presently have a $105.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock. Bank of America’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.86% from the stock’s previous close.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on XPO Logistics (XPO)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO) by 32.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,125 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in XPO Logistics were worth $714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated(UNH)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Trey Thoelcke]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s (NYSE: UNH) death cross came this week, and on last look both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages were on the decline. This stock also makes the list of best dividend stocks for retirees to own. Since the beginning of the year, its shares are up 9% or so, and Wall Street analysts on average recommend buying the shares.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded up 3.08% at $223.90 in a 52-week range of $164.60 to $250.79. Volume of about 3.5 million shares was about 10% below the daily average. The company had no specific news.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,953 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 14,448 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Here are some of the news stories that may have effected Accern Sentiment Analysis’s rankings:

  Get UnitedHealth Group alerts: Medical Software Rallies As Health Care’s Tech Conversion Accelerates (investors.com) What Are UnitedHealth's Key Sources of Revenue? (trefis.com) Humana (HUM) and Monida Ink Deal, Enhances In-Network Access (finance.yahoo.com) Is UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year? (finance.yahoo.com) UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Price Target Increased to $285.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets (americanbankingnews.com)

  A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $278.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $275.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 18th. Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 18th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 18th. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.58.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.(WEN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

  The Wendy's Co (NASDAQ:WEN)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 21, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Todd Campbell]

  He's been the non-executive chairman of Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) since June 2007 and a director at Wendy's since 1993. He's also an independent director of Sysco, a food distributor; an independent director of Madison Square Garden; and a former director at H.J. Heinz and Kraft Heinz Foods.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Wendy's Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) shares saw a handy gain on Thursday after the company announced that it accepted an offer to sell its 12.3% ownership interest in Inspire Brands back to that company for $450 million. This is a solid win for Nelson Peltz and Wendy's in general.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) was reportedly willing to sell itself, and Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) might have been interested in buying, until comments deemed racially insensitive by the pizzeria's founder John Schnatter led to his resignation as company chairman -- and caused the burger joint to back away from further negotiations.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sirius XM Radio Inc.(SIRI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  Lastly, the Fools answer a classic question from a listener: "When should an investor start taking profits on a multibagger stock? Or should he just hold on forever?" Since the answer to this depends a lot on the company, they both talk generally and address the case of the listener's stock -- Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) -- which is up around 500% since he bought it.

• [By Chris Lange]

  It was announced on Monday that Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) would be acquired by Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI). While this deal might look good at first glance, one analyst believes that Pandora shareholders will shoot down any acquisition hopes.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Sirius XM Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 196,142,023 shares, an increase of 1.7% from the August 15th total of 192,889,327 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,084,621 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 17.7 days. Approximately 14.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ:SIRI) is putting a little more change in the pockets of its shareholders. The satellite radio provider is increasing its payout, boosting its quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.0121 a share. 

• [By Daniel B. Kline]

  SiriusXM (NASDAQ:SIRI) has quietly become a sort of default option for many car owners. Since the service is built into many new vehicles, people get to sample it, and it's very easy to keep the service beyond the initial trial.

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Sun]

  Investors often consider Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) to be mature tech stocks that are owned more for stability and income than for growth. Yet over the past 12 months, Cisco's stock surged nearly 50% as IBM advanced just 1%. Let's see why investors were excited about Cisco but less thrilled about Big Blue's prospects -- and whether or not that trend will continue.

• [By Keith Noonan, Rich Smith, and Timothy Green]

  With that in mind, we asked three Motley Fool investors to identify a top high-yield stock that's worth holding forever. Read on to see why they picked UBS (NYSE:UBS), International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), and AT&T (NYSE:T).

• [By Chris Lange]

  International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is expected to report its first-quarter results on Tuesday. The analysts' consensus forecast is EPS of $2.52 on $8.26 billion in revenue. Shares were changing hands at $156.71 as last week came to a close. The consensus price target is $170.75, and the stock has a 52-week range of $139.13 to $171.69.

• [By Money Morning News Team]

  Plus, this ETF gives you exposure to IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).

Top 10 Cheap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: USG Corporation(USG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Warren Buffett likes to hold his stock positions for the long run, and his experience with USG (NYSE:USG) has been typical of his other long-term investments. The Oracle of Omaha started buying shares of the manufacturer of Sheetrock drywall and other building materials back in 2000, accumulating a sizable stake that has ballooned to more than 30% of the company. USG ended up going through bankruptcy in order to get a handle on its asbestos liability claims, but thanks largely to Buffett's involvement, the building materials company not only survived bankruptcy but also saw share prices soar briefly on hopes that USG would once again fully participate in the then-strong housing boom.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on USG (USG)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “USG (USG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results” was originally posted by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this report on another publication, it was stolen and republished in violation of U.S. and international trademark & copyright laws. The correct version of this report can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4157507/usg-usg-issues-quarterly-earnings-results.html.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on USG (USG)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of USG (NYSE:USG) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

  A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of USG from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, April 27th. Jefferies Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of USG in a research note on Monday, April 23rd. SunTrust Banks boosted their target price on shares of USG from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 17th. Buckingham Research boosted their target price on shares of USG from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 16th. Finally, Nomura boosted their target price on shares of USG from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.00.