The stock market is full of opportunities for investors willing to find quality companies that aren’t on the radar of most analysts. There is tremendous upside potential in these , with advantages that can drive them higher over the long term. They are also relatively inexpensive and offer a great entry point for value-conscious investors. While a possible recession has created challenges for most stocks, well seasoned investors take this to mean that unknown millionaire-maker stocks are trading at a discount.
These hidden gems often operate in niche areas with innovative products. With that in mind, let’s explore three such unknown millionaire-maker stocks:
Bancolombia (CIB)
Bancolombia (NYSE:CIB) is a financial services company that I expect to surge in the coming weeks. The economic uncertainty in the past three years has hurt this stock considerably. Therefore, CIB currently changes hands at around $25 – A steal, compared to its price of $55 prior to Covid-19.
Now, what’s the deal with the bank? Surely, there must be a massive caveat here for any company with growing financials to be trading at such a range — and there is! Investors are hesitant to invest in Colombia due to the country’s political instability and overall global market volatility. However, things have calmed down in recent months while share prices remain near periods of peak political instability.
With the biggest risk factor priced in, there is significant upside potential going forward. The bank has stable financials with a low assets-to-equity ratio of 9.2 times, a loans-to-asset ratio of 73% and a loans-to-deposit ratio of 101%. The only bad metric here is the level of bad loans at 5.6%, but this is to be expected due to the region’s high poverty levels. Thankfully, the bank makes up for that with its 109% allowance for bad loans.
Sun Country Airlines (SNCY)
Sun Country Airlines (NASDAQ:SNCY) is a hybrid low-cost carrier that operates scheduled passenger flights, charters and cargo services. This is a relatively obscure pick, as it has had only two Wall Street ratings this year. However, I think this business deserves much more attention due to the growth it has been delivering. Sun Country is profitable and has a top-line growth rate of around ~30% year-over-year (YOY) for the last three quarters. It is expected to end the year with 19.2% YOY growth and remain above double digits before reaccelerating again to 15.4% in 2025.
Furthermore, the resurgence in travel has led to a boom in earnings per share this year, up 332.4%. The EPS growth is expected to remain solid through 2024 and 2025, with 24.2% and 28.9% growth, respectively. With all that growth, one could expect this stock to trade at a substantial premium.However, the forward price-to-earnings ratio here is just 10.74 times.
If you hold for a multi-year timeframe, I believe there is massive upside potential here. The margins here are still strong and that growth will likely materialize into significant cash flow in the coming years.
CareCloud (CCLD)
Conversely, healthcare IT services provider CareCloud (NASDAQ:CCLD) does have some recognition on Wall Street, albeit by smaller firms. Analysts from B. Riley Financial and Maxim have hinted at a mammoth 188.5% upside potential here. EF Hutton also noted an $8.5 price target in May, implying a>170% upside. I believe similar gains are possible due to the tremendous value here.
Sure, CareCloud has been battling headwinds with sales disappointing again by falling 15.1% (2.86% miss) and a less-than-rosy EPS miss of 15.1%. But the broader picture shows that this stock has very little downside left and is likely bottoming out soon. Even with the miss, the stock continues to trade sideways and it’s evident that the headwinds have been priced in.
CareCloud is expected to put its nose above the water with a modest 2.64% this year and an EPS recovery of 4.5%. This growth will likely remain above double digits for the next two years on average and EPS could recover quickly. For 2024 and 2025, EPS growth is estimated at 39% and 66.7%, respectively. All that growth is yet to be priced in due to its price-to-sales ratio of just 0.36 times, lower than the 1.63 industry median. Thus, CCLD is among the top unknown millionaire-maker stocks to snap up before it gains more traction.
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On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
