This week’s Best Stocks Under $5 is once again showcasing a diversified group of low-priced stocks that outperformed larger companies in the general market. There’s a little bit of everything this week, including a uranium stock, a company that works with utility companies to save energy costs, a couple of bio-pharm firms with important new products and a semiconductor company.
Here’s a look at five low-priced stocks that fattened a few wallets this week:
Best Stocks Under $5: Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC)
4/24/15 Closing Price: $2.32 (+49%)
Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE:UEC) is a Corpus Christi, Texas-based uranium producer that saw its stock price touch 52-week highs after a Japanese court cleared the way for the Kyushu Electric Power’s Sendai nuclear power plant to begin operations after a four-year shutdown.
The court ruled against local residents who filed a petition to delay the restart of two nuclear reactors. Investors are banking on a boost in uranium prices as the nuclear industry gets back on track in Japan with the help of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Investors were also reacting to the report of insider buying the previous week by CEO Amir Adnani, who bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock at $1.50, for a total investment of $15,000.
Best Stocks Under $5: NF Energy Saving Corp (NFEC)
4/24/15 Closing Price: $2.10 (+19%)
NF Energy Saving Corp (NASDAQ:NFEC) is a Chinese-based producer of heavy industrial components and products that serves electric and water power, petrochemical and other infrastructure industries.
On Tuesday, NFEC signed a $420,000 contract to provide flow control equipment to the drinking water of the Shangrao City in Jiangxi Province, China. It was speculated that this may only be the first of many such infrastructure projects to come in some regions of China.
A few weeks ago, NFEC also signed a $98,000 contract with a subsidiary of China Power Investment Corporation to provide infrastructure in a new electric power plant, indicating that NFEC is making good strides to grow its business.
After a big run-up, NFEC sold off nearly 8% today, setting up a good long trade for Monday morning.
Best Stocks Under $5: Biocept Inc (BIOC)
4/24/15 Closing Price: $2.88 (+22%)
Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) is a small cancer diagnostics company that is developing standard blood tests to discover detailed information on tumor cells. The tests would be on par or better than what can be gained from traditional biopsies. BIOC has been highlighted in this space once before.
This week BIOC announced it was able to use OncoCEE-BR, its blood-based diagnostic test, to assess hormonal status of metastatic breast cancer patients in a study at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.
The significance of this blood test is that the results are very similar to standard biopsy tests, which means that patients are able to have a simple blood test rather than an invasive biopsy procedure without sacrificing accuracy of test results. That technology should be very lucrative to BIOC stock going forward.
BIOC stock sold off by 7.6% today, so traders can also look for an entry point there early next week.
Best Stocks Under $5: Bovie Medical Corporation (BVX)
4/24/15 Closing Price: $3.16 (+28%)
Bovie Medical Corporation (NYSE:BVX) is a producer of medical devices and supplies. One of its main products is J-Plasma, a surgical product that uses a helium ionization process to assist doctors during surgery.
BVX stock pushed 30% higher on Thursday following an initiation of coverage as “market outperform” by JMP Group Inc., which also set a stock price target of $5, which would be a 58% increase over today’s closing price.
BVX stock has been underperforming for the past 10 months, having fallen from $5 in June. The new coverage will help, but it will really need more than that for a sustained move higher.
Best Stocks Under $5: Sequans Communications SA ADR (SQNS)
4/24/15 Closing Price: $2.15 (+15%)
Sequans Communications SA ADR (NYSE:SQNS) is a 4G semiconductor company that provides solutions for wireless mobile broadband applications. Its stock moved higher this week as it announced first-quarter earnings of -14 cents per share, unchanged from the same quarter a year ago but a penny per share better than 2014 Q4.
SQNS reporting revenue of $4.8 million, an increase of 7% from the same quarter a year ago.
As for the second quarter, SQNS is projecting a loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $7.8 million. This was basically in line with analysts’ estimates and represents improvement over previous quarters. Analysts were fairly happy with these figures, and the stock blasted higher on the news.
SQNS stock was recently upgraded by Needham from “hold” to “buy” and has traded between $1.10 and $3.40 over the past two years.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
