5 Good Stocks To Buy Now Under $20 including Facebook IPO

 What if you could buy Facebook IPO for as little as $15 per share? Looking for a cheap way to buy the Facebook IPO, oil drillers, both on and offshore, lawnmowers and air cooled engines and getting geek’d with the best video games. What these all have in common is they represent 5 of the best stocks to buy now under $20, February 13, 2012, all upgraded or initiated coverage to a “buy” rating or better recently from Wall Street analysts and all considered good stocks to buy under $20:

Upgraded To “Buy” Or Better

1. Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI), the company that brought gamers Pitfall, Grand Prix and Kaboom! 30 years ago, was upgraded Friday by analysts at Goldman Sachs to a “buy” rating. Replaced by Call of Duty, Spiderman, and the global #1 subscription-based massively multi-player online role-playing game, World of Warcraft, ATVI reported earnings last week highlighting:

  • 2011 EPS growth of more than 17%, a new company
  • record GAAP and non-GAAP operating margins of 28% and 30%
  • Almost $1 Billion in operating cash flow
  • $1 Billion stock repurchase program
  • 9% increase in cash dividend to $0.18 per common share
  • 2012 expectations of GAAP EPS of $0.63 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.94

ATVI One Year Chart:

ATVI closed Friday at $12.33, down 2.65% (-0.34). ATVI is trading -14.41% below its 52-week high, $14.40, 18.51% above its 52-week low, $10.40. ATVI has a 1-Yr Target Price of $15.81 with a Market Cap of $14.10 Billion.

2. Briggs & Stratton Corp (NYSE: BGG), designers, manufacturers, marketers, and servicers of air cooled gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment globally, was upgraded by analysts at TheStreet to a “buy” rating. Having reported earnings on Tuesday last week which were less than the same period a year ago, BGG managed to gain 3.63% fr the week ended Friday, February 10.

After announcing in late January the closing of its West Tennessee plant, trimming 690 jobs attached to it, BGG reported net sales for fiscal 2012 Q2 of $447.9 million, gross profit percentage of 16.5%, cost of revenue of $374 million. An additional BGG facility in Czech Republic is scheduled to wind down by March 15 with production shifting to its Murray, Kentucky facility to further trim costs.

BGG One Year Chart:

BGG closed Friday at $17.11, down 0.52% (-0.09). BGG is trading -29.24% below its 52-week high, $24.18, 38.43% above its 52-week low, $12.36. BGG has a 1-Yr Target Price of $20.00 with a Market Cap of $851.62 Million. With 10-day average volume of 457,300 and 9.08 million shares short (as of Jan 31, 2012), BGG could be a strong candidate for a short squeeze with roughly 20 days to cover short interests.

3. Having posted a narrower than expected loss for Q4 on Thursday, Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO), providers of shallow-water drilling and marine services to the natural gas and oil exploration and production industry in the Gulf of Mexico and abroad, was upgraded by analysts at Pritchard Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.

Beating analysts’ estimates, HERO posted revenue of $152.8 million, EPS of $-0.16 compared to $-0.73 the same quarter last year. Although it looks far from being able to post positive EPS anytime soon, HERO is gaining momentum and exposure in the stock market having gained 9.38% last week..

HERO One Year Chart:

HERO closed Friday at $5.12, up 6.00% (+0.29). HERO is trading -26.75% below its 52-week high, $6.99, 127.56% above its 52-week low, $2.25. HERO has a 1-Yr Target Price of $5.42 with a Market Cap of $706.01 Million.

4. Precision Drilling (NYSE: PDS), an onshore well drilling turnkey provider to the oil and gas industry throughout North America, was upgraded by analysts at TD Newcrest to a “buy” rating. Having also reported earnings on Thursday last week, PDS posted net earnings of $28 million, $0.10 per diluted share for Q4, net earnings of $193 million or $0.67 per diluted share for the year compared to net earnings of $44 million or $0.15 per diluted share for 2010.

PDS has had a nice run since January 24 when shares touched $9.27, the YTD low on the stock. With 85 to 90% of our active rigs are drilling horizontal or directional wells, look with confidence for buying opportunities in PDS anywhere near $10.55.

PDS One Year Chart:

PDS closed Friday at $11.29, down 1.14% (-0.13). PDS is trading -37.90% below its 52-week high, $18.18, 50.13% above its 52-week low, $7.52. PDS has a 1-Yr Target Price of $15.94 with a Market Cap of $3.12 Billion.

Initiated Coverage

5. If looking to buy the Facebook IPO, just get into GSV Capital Corp (NASDAQ: GSVC), an investment fund run by Michael Moe that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies, which is now covered by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann who set a “buy” rating on the stock. Last June, GSVC bought 225,000 shares in Facebook at an average price of $29.28 each, a $6.6 million investment in Facebook, which represents roughly 15% of the company’s total portfolio. Recent reports state GSVC holds 350,000 Facebook shares at a cost basis of $29.90.

GSVC took a huge dive on Friday after the company announced a $15.oo per share follow-on offering of 6,000,000 shares of common stock. The offering announcement on Friday plunged GSVC stock by 23% compared to Thursday’s closing price. With Facebook about to launch the biggest IPO in history, GSVC could be a poor-man’s way to capitalize on the multi-billion dollar social media giant. Trading volume in GSVC has had surges of more than 500% at times compared with its daily average through Jan. 27.

GSVC One Year Chart:

GSVC closed Friday at $15.30, down 21.54% (-4.20). GSVC is trading -26.76% below its 52-week high, $20.89, 56.92% above its 52-week low, $9.75. GSVC has a 1-Yr Target Price of $17.25 with a Market Cap of $84.46 Million.




 

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