In July I listed 5 stocks under $15 based on a combination of value and technical factors. The returns of those 5 stocks, along with the Russell 2000 Index IWM benchmark ETF, are below:
| Trend | July 6th Close | October 7th Close | Return | ||
| UFPT | UFP Technologies, Inc. | Here | 9.05 | 11.95 | 32.04% |
| SLI | SL Industries, Inc. | Here | 12 | 14.19 | 18.25% |
| TGS | Transportadora de Gas del Sur | Here | 3.24 | 3.66 | 12.90% |
| KTCC | Key Tronic Corporation | Here | 4.81 | 6.36 | 32.22% |
| DINE | Rewards Network Inc. | Here | 13.51 | 14.41 | 6.66% |
| Avg | 20.42% | ||||
| -- | -- | ||||
| IWM | 59.04 | 68.41 | 15.87% |
The primary purpose of this screen/system is to seek low-priced stocks still trading at reasonable valuation ratios with price momentum and a positive trend.The second goal is to be long high beta, riskier stocks when the market is fundamentally and technically favorable. This is accomplished by a) investing in stocks with price momentum b) investing when the S&P 500 EPS estimate is trending upward c) investing when the S&P 500 risk premium is above 1% (for a full explanation see here) and d) investing only when the underlying benchmark is above the 200 day moving average on the day of rebalancing/screening.
As of today, the above 4 requirements are being met. Thus, the top 5 stocks under $15 based on quality, value, and momentum are below. Each company has a price/sales ratio below 1, low price to earnings, and low long term debt/equity (ADDvantage Technologies (AEY) has the highest LT Debt/Equity at .39). The drawback of the qualifying stocks is that they are all small or microcap stocks that may have relatively thin trading volumes. However, all have a minimum daily volume of at least 10k shares.
Of special note is that RCM Technologies (RCMT) is currently fighting a hostile bid takeover from CDI Corp (CDI) at $5.20 share. The outcome of this takeover attempt could affect the share price in the near future.
The ranking system used is compliments of stockscreen123.com. Investors could also establish their own custom criteria using free screens such as those at finviz.com.
| Ticker | Name | Trend | October 7th Close | MktCap | Industry |
| UFPT | UFP Technologies, Inc. | Here | 11.95 | 75.3 | Containers & Packaging |
| SLI | SL Industries, Inc. | Here | 14.19 | 84.91 | Electronic Instr. & Controls |
| JADE | LJ International, Inc. | Here | 4.3 | 108.6 | Jewelry & Silverware |
| AEY | ADDvantage Technologies Group | Here | 2.99 | 30.43 | Communications Equipment |
| RCMT | RCM Technologies, Inc. | Here | 4.96 | 65.68 | Computer Services |
