5 Best Affordable Stocks To Buy Now

In this article, we discuss the 5 best affordable stocks to buy now. If you want to see skip our analysis of these stocks, go directly to the 15 Best Affordable Stocks To Buy Now.

5. Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Share Price as of December 17: $46.56

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is an American corporation and one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in Henrico County, Virginia.

On October 27, 2022, Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) announced its result for the third quarter of 2022. The company’s revenue during the quarter was recorded at $5.4 billion, a decrease of 2.1% on a year-over-year basis, while its normalized EPS came in at $1.28.

According to Insider Monkey’s database, 47 hedge funds had stakes in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) at the end of the September quarter with shares valued at approximately $1.53 billion. Arrowstreet Capital remained the leading stakeholder of the company at the end of the third quarter.

4. Toast Inc. (NYSE:TOST)

Share Price as of December 17: $18.76

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48

Toast Inc. (NYSE:TOST) is a cloud-based restaurant management software company that provides an all-in-one point of sale system built on the Android operating system. Its range of hardware options and features make it easy to accept, manage and track food orders.

Wells Fargo analyst Jeff Cantwell maintained an Overweight rating and $27 price target on Toast Inc. (NYSE:TOST) following a call with industry experts on December 16 who believe that Toast has a “significant opportunity ahead” in a resilient restaurant space. Hailed as the “best-in-class” solution, they believe Toast has the best understanding of how to serve the day-to-day operations of the restaurant industry.

By the end of Q3 2022, 48 hedge funds held stakes in Toast Inc. (NYSE:TOST). The total value of these stakes came in at $1.52 billion, up from $1.22 billion in the previous quarter with 40 positions.

3. CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX)

Share Price as of December 17: $31.65

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger.

Earlier this November, Barclays analyst Brandon Oglenski raised the price target on CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) to $38 from $35 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares. According to the analyst, the company stands to benefit from leveraging “industry leading” service outcomes with long-term growth from committed customer projects. He adds that the shares “should appreciate from the current low end of industry valuation.”

According to Insider Monkey’s Q3 data, 61 hedge funds were bullish on CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX), compared to 63 funds in the prior quarter. Eric W. Mandelblatt’s Soroban Capital Partners is the leading position holder in the company, with 57.6 million shares worth $1.5 billion.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Global Infrastructure Value Strategy has to say about CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“On a regional basis, the U.S. and Canada were the top contributors to quarterly performance, of which U.S. rail operator CSX was among the lead performers. CSX is one of five leading North American rail companies, with over 21,000 miles of rail, covering 23 states and 40+ ports. CSX is engaged in the transportation of rail freight in the Southeast, East, and Midwest via interchange with other rail carriers, to and from the rest of the U.S. and Canada. CSX performed well during the quarter after the company beat market expectations on its third-quarter results. The beats were largely driven by strong pricing, which could be hitting record highs, and healthy commodity/coal volume driven by the current energy crisis.”

2. Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS)

Share Price as of December 17: $24.80

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) is an American image sharing and social media service company that enables the saving and discovery of information on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos.

On December 13, Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion upgraded Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $30, up from $25. The analyst sees “multiple tailwinds” for the company into 2023 after his advertising buyer survey pointed to an improved ad product and rising market rising. He sees a path to margin expansion and states that “we like the new leadership, investor activism, and we see a buyback coming.”

According to Insider Monkey’s data, Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) was part of 68 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2022, up from 41 funds in the prior quarter. Harris Associates, with approximately 28.46 million shares worth $663.17 million, is the largest shareholder of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) as of Q3.

Meridian Funds made the following comment about Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“We took advantage of early-2021 volatility in Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) to establish a hedged position in a well-established firm that we believe occupies a unique space in the social media landscape. Through its visual-first offering, users build portfolios of photos, videos, and inspirations around their hobbies and interests, which we believe will become increasingly valuable to advertisers. We believe our exposure is protected to a degree by the company’s high net cash balance and its underappreciated core franchise value. Furthermore, since we initiated our position, the company hired a new CEO with a relevant track record of success at both PayPal and Google.”

1. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Share Price as of December 17: $31.70

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 97

The Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Earlier this November, JPMorgan analyst Vivek Juneja raised the price target on Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) to $39 from $35.50 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares. According to the analyst, the large cap banks are currently seeing some decent benefit in their revenues from higher rates and benign credit quality, while some impact from recession had already been priced into the shares. Juneja expects bank stocks “should continue to benefit from rotation away from other sectors seeing more headwinds.”

As of the close of Q3 2022, 97 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned investments in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), worth over $35.6 billion collectively. Berkshire Hathaway was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.

Ariel Investment commented on Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in a Q3 2022 investor letter,

We initiated three new positions in the quarter. We added leading financial institution Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) which serves individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management, and other financial and risk management products and services. The current company was formed through various mergers including NationsBank, FleetBoston, US Trust, Countrywide Financial, and Merrill Lynch with the legacy commercial bank to form a national banking powerhouse and bulge bracket investment firm. As one of the ‘Big Four’ U.S. banks it enjoys scale driven cost advantages and economies of scale which provide meaningful competitive advantages and potential for strong returns in the largely commoditized banking industry. A survivor of the financial crisis, BAC has emerged with a solid capital base and stands to benefit from a rising interest rate environment.

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