12 Best Stocks Under $50

Published on July 29, 2022 at 9:09 am by Ramish Cheema in Hedge Funds, News

In this piece we will take a look at the 12 best stocks under $50. To skip our introduction and to take a look at the top five stocks in this list, head on over to 5 Best Stocks Under $50.

If there’s one thing that most people would have been unable to predict as 2022 started, it’s that major stock market indexes would enter bear territory and see their value drop by more than 30% by the second half of the year. Battered by the coronavirus pandemic, investors and economists were looking forward to a year of recovery, but the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine upended the delicate balance of recovery and fueled inflation by hammering global commodities.

In such a scenario especially for the retail investor, investing in the stock market appears to be a tricky proposition. After all, the NASDAQ 100 composite index has dropped by a whopping 25% year to date, the DOW Jones Industrial Average by roughly 13%, the S&P by 17%, and the NYSE by close to 14%.

Ken Fisher’s Take on the Latest Market Situation

However, as the old adage goes, ‘buy the dip and sell the peak’, the time might just be right to consider the stock market. This is bolstered by a recent interview given by billionaire Ken Fisher, who continued his trend of engaging with listeners on YouTube earlier this month and shared his take on stock markets. Mr. Fisher outlined that investments can be broken down into two categories, namely ‘growth’ and ‘value’ investments, and each has its benefits and drawbacks that surface in correlation to current market trends.

He outlined that when markets are dropping, investors tend to flock towards value stocks such as energy companies and banks, since they tend to hold their ground in a bearish environment. However, judging when to switch gears, and change strategies from focusing on value to growth, or vice versa, are key for long term success believes Mr. Fisher — particularly when markets have dropped for months and might be bottoming out. At this crucial juncture, investing in growth stocks, such as those of technology companies, can very well poise an investor for massive returns in the long term.

According to Ken Fisher:

“So if you’re heavy in value now, you’ve been doing relatively well compared to the market, you’re down but not down as much. You might want to switch out of that as you get to where we would have a bottom and move to growth because coming up the other side that would tend to be true. Now it is normally true that coming off the bottom of bear markets, the categories that have done the worst going down tend to do the best in the initial months and sometimes longer.”

Keeping this in mind, we’ve taken a look at both value and growth stocks, for a mix of options that can suit both kinds of market environments. The top three stocks in our list are Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), and Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW).

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

Our Methodology

In order to sift out some impressive cheap stocks out there, we scanned broader industry trends to select the companies. After this, the firms were analyzed through their investor sentiment, analyst coverage, earnings where applicable, and hedge fund sentiment courtesy of Insider Monkey’s Q1 2022 912 hedge fund survey.

Best Stocks Under $50

12. Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $5.3

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 17

Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API) is a software technology company based in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. It offers a large set of software solutions that let developers embed and include video chatting and conferencing capabilities into their platforms alongside other features such as chat and video calling.

Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API) saw its fortunes tumble on the stock market as its major industry, which offered private tuition to children in China was banned by the government. This led to the company facing heavy losses however, at the same time, vying to benefit from a growth in online learning in China as it continues to deal with COVID 19 lockdowns.

Additionally, its development software has a strong position in North American and Western countries, with revenue from these markets growing by more than 50% annually in its latest quarter. Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API) also has a $200 million share buyback program in place, which will attract higher share prices. 17 of the 912 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey for Q1 2022 had invested in the company.

Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API)’s largest investor is Dawid Krige’s Cederberg Capital which holds 2 million shares that are worth $21 million.

Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ:API) joins Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ), and Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in some of the hot stocks under $50 out there.

11. Xperi Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:XPER)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $16

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23

Xperi Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:XPER) is another technology company that is known for licensing entertainment product solutions. These include content delivery over several kinds of networks such as satellite and broadband, and content discovery and automotive media solutions.

Xperi Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:XPER) is one of the largest companies in the world when it comes to its licensing portfolio, which has seen it extend its presence to billions of technology products worldwide. It owns more than 10,000 patents and has made a string of acquisitions to further diversify its business alongside increasing its revenue guidance by $10 million in June 2022. 23 of the 912 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey as this year’s March quarter ended had bought the company’s shares.

BWS Financial kept a $26 price target for the company in July 2022, as it outlined that a recent acquisition will further accelerate development.

10. Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $19.6

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING) is an American identity verification and other services provider that is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. These services include features such as single sign on and multi factor authentication and the company counts several Fortune 100 companies as its customers.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING)’s latest financial quarter saw it grow its annual recurring revenue (ARR) by 21.5% annually, which in itself marked the fifth consecutive quarterly growth for the ARR percentage. With a total addressable market (TAM) for identity solutions estimated to be at $13.4 billion, Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING) has plenty of room to grow in its segment.

While Mizuho reduced the company’s share price target to $25 from $29 in July 2022 on the back of current political uncertainty, it nevertheless maintained that Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING) offers a competitive mix of risk and reward. Insider Monkey scanned 912 hedge fund portfolios in Q1 2022 to discover that 20 had bought the company’s shares.

Robert Smith’s Vista Equity Partners is Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING)’s largest investor through a $228 million stake that comes courtesy of 8.3 million shares.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Funds mentioned Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE:PING) and outlined:

“Ping Identity Corporation (NYSE:PING) offers identity and access management security software. Shares appreciated due to strong fourth quarter financial results and upbeat guidance for 2022. Annual recurring revenue growth accelerated for a third straight quarter driven by strong adoption of Ping’s SaaS software products and cross selling new customer identity-focused products to existing customers. Management guided to further acceleration next year driven by healthy demand for the SaaS platform and for newer products such as online fraud detection, identity security orchestration, and Ping’s federal government solutions. Longer term, we maintain conviction in Ping due to growing demand for identity-oriented cybersecurity, Ping’s continued market share gains from legacy on-premise tools, and management’s focus on expanding distribution through new channel partners. Ping also trades at a reasonable valuation relative to other leading cybersecurity peers.”

9. Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $21.8

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 30

Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) is an audio product designer and manufacturer based in Santa Barbara, California. The company offers products such as wireless and theater speakers. It has thousands of retail partners in the U.S. and a strong brand image.

Despite the supply chain uncertainty that has plagued nearly every consumer electronics firm out there, Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) managed to grow its revenues during its latest fiscal quarter and beat analyst estimates by a wide margin. To further boost its case, the company estimates that the global audio market is worth $89 billion, leaving it with plenty of room for growth.

Insider Monkey’s 912 hedge fund analysis for the first quarter of this year revealed that 30 had bought the company’s shares.

Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO)’s largest investor in our database is Christopher Shackelton and Adam Gray’s Coliseum Capital which owns 3.9 million shares that are worth $112 million.

Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) made an appearance in Aristotle Capital Management‘s investor letter for this year’s first quarter, with the fund stating that:

“Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO), a consumer electronics company with proprietary multi-room smart speaker technology, was added to the portfolio on the belief that strong consumer demand for the company’s differentiated product offering plus a multi-year pipeline of upcoming new product introductions are expected to drive shareholder value for the next several years.”

8. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $22

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43

Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) is crude oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and other energy products explorer, developer, marketer, and seller. The firm has facilities all over the United States and it is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

One of the strongest points of Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) is the fact that the company plans to return more than 50% of its cash flows through share repurchase programs to investors. Its current share repurchase authorization program is worth $2.5 billion and like other companies, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) is also slated to benefit from high oil prices. To further sweeten the deal, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) also has a 1.14% dividend yield and $0.08 dividend per share quarterly dividend.

However, Wall Street remains cautious about oil prices, as it believes that due to the risks of a recession, oil prices will dip in the future. Subsequently, Piper Sandler lowered Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)’s share price target to $38 from $39 in July 2022 but kept an Overweight rating on the shares. By the end of this year’s March quarter, 43 of the 912 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had invested in the company.

Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)’s largest shareholder. It owns 8.6 million shares that are worth $217 million.

Carillon Tower Advisers mentioned Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) in its Q1 2022 investor letter to outline that:

“Stock selection contributed the most while sector allocation was also positive. An underweight to communication services and an overweight to energy helped performance, while an underweight to consumer staples and an overweight to materials detracted. Stock selection was strong within healthcare and materials but was weak within information technology and industrials. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) increased its quarterly dividend and executed an impressive share buyback that blew by the target it originally announced.”

7. SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $26.5

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38

SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S) is a cybersecurity services provider that has clients all over the world. The company provides services such as cloud workload protection, artificial intelligence powered threat detection, and unification of endpoint protection, detection, and response solutions. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States.

Despite worries of a bear market hurting high growth technology companies, SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S) posted a strong fiscal first quarter that saw the company grow its revenues by 109%. Equally impressive, and more important was the company’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) which grew by 110%, indicating that it has strong customer trust. For the same time period, its customers grew 55% to 7,450 bolstered in part by a 110% growth in high value customers with contracts larger than $100,000.

BTIG was impressed by the company’s fiscal Q1 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares, despite reducing its share price target to $37 from $48 as part of a wider software downgrade. Insider Monkey scanned 912 hedge fund portfolios in Q1 2022 to find out that 38 had invested in the company.

Dan Loeb’s Third Point is SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S)’s largest investor through owning 26 million shares worth $1 billion.

Mentioning SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S) in its first quarter of 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments shared that:

“We added six new positions in the fourth quarter. We see next-generation cybersecurity provider SentinelOne, although early in its growth lifecycle, as capable of taking share from legacy players in the antivirus and broader cybersecurity industry.”

6. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Share Price as of July 21, 2022: $28.9

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is a mineral mining company based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The firm extracts metals such as copper, gold, and silver, and it also focuses its efforts on fuels such as oil and gas. It operates more than 100 wells located all over the globe.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s biggest weakness and its biggest strength is copper. Thought by many as the building block of the modern economy, copper is used across a variety of industries such as wiring, rocket engines, and electric vehicles. Therefore, as copper prices fall, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) looks worrisome, but as they rise the company’s prospects appear bright. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) also pays a quarterly dividend of 7 cents per share, for a reasonable dividend yield of 1.02%.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s biggest strength is China’s massive growth in renewable energy, with the country having installed more than 10,000 wind turbines last year. This translates into more orders for the company, and investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Citi project bullish copper prices for the long term. 68 of the 912 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s first quarter of 2022 survey had bought Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s shares.

Out of these, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the company’s largest investor as it owns 50 million shares that are worth $2.5 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) made an appearance in Carillon Tower Advisers‘s Q1 2022 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Supply chains eased for some goods, but remained challenged for many commodities including energy, agriculture, and fertilizer due to war and general scarcity, and also in many consumer products as semiconductors remained in short supply. Copper and gold producer Freeport- McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) rose as copper prices remained strong due to supply shortages and growing use in renewable energy systems and electric vehicles.”

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), and Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) are met by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX in our list of some of the best stocks under $50.

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