Small investors can still find big opportunities in the stock market.
If you’re a small investor, sometimes it can feel like the best opportunities on Wall Street are out of reach. This is partially because there are clear economies of scale available to bigger investors, including access to more exclusive products like hedge funds with massive minimum buy-ins that the little guy simply can’t afford. But it’s also because even if you’re smart enough to manage your own money, a single share of some high-priced stocks could still be beyond your price range. Consider the Class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) that trade for more than $500,000 apiece! If you want to invest with a modest sum of just $1,000, some vehicles just aren’t an option. The good news is the following seven stocks all trade for less than $50 per share, allowing investors to buy a decent amount of each.
Boston Scientific Corp. (ticker: BSX)
Boston Scientific is a $65 billion medical device giant that is tailor-made for a rocky stock market environment. The firm develops surgery products and innovative neurological and cardiovascular devices to help doctors pinpoint problems in patients. It also makes pacemakers, spinal cord stimulators for pain management and a host of other impressive — and expensive — therapies. Health care spending is about as sure a thing as you’ll find in consumer budgets, and regardless of gasoline prices or geopolitical unrest, you can be sure folks with heart conditions are going to the hospital when they have chest pain. That makes BSX an incredibly reliable bet and a stock that investors with less than $1,000 can believe in for the long term.
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP)
Midsize oil driller Helmerich & Payne operates across North America and is a case study in energy stocks that are cashing in right now as crude oil trades above $100 a barrel and inflationary pressures persist, thanks to both strong demand and supply disruptions driven by the war in Ukraine. Shares have surged about 90% year to date, thanks to an impressive fleet of more than 250 land rigs and seven offshore platform rigs. As Big Oil continues its race to bring crude to market at these elevated prices, HP continues to do a brisk business and should build on its recent success in the months ahead.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX)
A $70 billion metals and mining giant, Freeport-McMoRan operates mineral properties in North America, South America and Asia. The company mines a host of metals, including base metals like copper and precious metals like gold and silver; in some areas, FCX also extracts oil and gas. This is a classic inflationary play, as all of the raw materials that Freeport is taking out of the ground are seeing higher and higher prices lately. And as a result, the performance of this mining stock has been very impressive, including a gain of more than 40% over the last 12 months and profits of more than 15% in 2022 despite a volatile market elsewhere on Wall Street. With a continued tail wind for commodities like copper and gold, FCX should continue to fare well.
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC)
A few years ago, the Kraft Heinz merger was a cause of great finger-pointing on Wall Street. In 2015, a $50 billion buyout led by investment firm 3G Capital ultimately resulted in a bloated company with way too much debt — and a stock that crashed from $90 a share at its peak in 2017 to the low $20s as recently as 2020. But some restructuring of the brand portfolio helped increase efficiencies, and the perspective of key long-term investors — like investment shop Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 20% of the firm — has given KHC room to stabilize. Recently, the stock has powered significantly higher, thanks to investors rotating out of growth names and into slow-and-steady stocks like Kraft Heinz. Shares are up more than 12% year to date and pay a 4% dividend to boot.
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM)
If you’re a smaller investor looking for an affordable and reliable investment, then consider leading retail real estate company Kimco. This company says its focus is on “open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and mixed-use assets.” In other words, strip malls. Unlike traditional malls that have been very much disrupted by e-commerce shopping trends, Kimco has assets comprising 70 million square feet of shops that are harder to squeeze out — from grocery stores to restaurants to big-box mainstays like Walmart Inc. (WMT). With a generous dividend of more than 3%, investors who buy and hold should get consistent income as they hold on, providing a nice sweetener as you put your money to work over the long term.
Twitter Inc. (TWTR)
Twitter has seen plenty of ups and downs over the years, particularly as the social media company has seemed to plateau in terms of its global user base amid brisk competition for eyeballs on other platforms. However, some converging factors seem to be working in favor of the stock lately. A big recent one is innovator Elon Musk buying a $3 billion chunk of shares and joining the firm’s board. But longer term, brand tarnish and strategic missteps at social media megabrand Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) have boosted Twitter’s standing. As users are increasingly looking for alternatives, Twitter seems to be doing everything right and has popped by more than 10% this year, yet still remains under $50 a share.
Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (ZETA)
If you’ve never heard of Zeta, it’s time to take notice of this small-cap tech stock. The roughly $2 billion software company went public in June 2021 and has risen more than 50% year to date in 2022. There’s no shortage of buzzwords in the corporate description of Zeta, which claims to operate “an omnichannel data-driven cloud platform” powered by artificial intelligence algorithms. In plain English, this enterprise software firm analyzes data points, including previous sales trends, to predict future consumer behavior. As businesses look to maximize their performance, this kind of service is in high demand — and with shares gapping up 10% in a single session on April 7 after positive analyst coverage, momentum is on the right side of this reasonably priced tech stock.
7 best stocks to buy now with $1,000:
— Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX)
— Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP)
— Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX)
— Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC)
— Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM)
— Twitter Inc. (TWTR)
— Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (ZETA)
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7 Best Stocks to Buy Now With $1,000 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/08/22: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
