An entirely new class of traders was introduced to the market over the course of last year's COVID-19 lockdown, shut-in period. Mobile investing became all the rage, and penny stocks started getting more attention.
One of the best penny stocks to buy, Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO), banked some traders 360% profits as the company made breakthroughs in the airline Wi-Fi business. The stock went from $2.91 to a peak of $13.40 in less than six months.
Today, we're going to uncover the next massive growth opportunity in penny stocks.
Now that we've gone through another round of stimulus and expect more dovish activity from the Fed, the latest capital infusion could mean enormous profits for more penny stock investors.
Our first top penny stock today meets a need that never goes out of style...
Information Services Group Inc. (NASDAQ: III), or "ISG," is in the business of helping businesses, government agencies, healthcare systems, higher education institutions, and technology and service providers be the best they can be at an operational level.
They are helping banks compete with fintech and deal with never-ending complex regulatory environments.
ISG helps private equity firms value the information technology assets of companies under consideration as buyout targets and then assists in optimizing those operations after a deal is made. ISG estimates that it has helped clients like KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR) and Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) realize $1 billion in cost savings for their portfolio companies.
It is helping colleges and universities attract higher-quality students, manage their finances more effectively, and evaluate and improve IT systems.
It helps utilities implement cloud and digital projects, evaluate merger and acquisition candidates, and comply with regulatory requirements.
When it comes to Information Technology, there is not much ISG does not do. It is active in more than 20 countries and has over 1,300 IT professionals helping clients improve performance.
ISG has more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises.
The stock is just a few percentage points below the 52-week high. The shares have been rising on higher volumes and could soon explode to record-breaking highs.
First Eagle Alternative Capital BDC Inc. (NASDAQ: FCRD) is another penny stock closing in on 52-week highs. This is a business development company fund that makes loans to mid-sized companies with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $5 million to $25 million.
Almost all of the companies it lends to are owned by a top-tier private equity fund.
First Eagle has some expertise in dealing with private equity funds since its sponsor, First Eagle Investments, is majority-owned by Blackstone and Corsair Capital, two of the country's largest PE firms.
Since 2018, it has changed to a more conservative lending profile, and 100% of new investments made since were deployed into first lien senior secured loans. These loans have a lot less risk and a much higher recovery potential if things do go south.
The explosion of private equity deals in 2020 as valuations were initially compressed, which allowed First Eagle Alternative to add eight new loans to its portfolio on very attractive terms.
Since First Eagle Alternative is a business development company, most of its income has to be paid to shareholders as dividends. At the current price, the stock is yielding about 10%.
In addition to the dividend, there is the potential for the stock to trade back to its net asset value, which would give investors an additional 70% profit.
But our last penny stock could soar even higher...
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Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) is an oil and gas company that has been moving higher since it made a transformational purchase last year. Its purchase of Montage Resources created the largest Appalachian gas and natural gas liquids company with over 1 trillion cubic feet equivalent of reserves.
Thanks to cost savings produced by the merger, Southwestern is also the lowest-cost operator in the region.
The combined companies will produce $275 million of free cash flow in 2021 with natural gas around current prices. If the current pace of recovery in the economy continues to drive natural gas prices higher, that number could go as high as $300 million.
Southwestern will use the free cash flow to pay down debt, which is one of our favorite free cash flow uses. Reducing the debt will decrease interest costs, which boosts overall profit and free cash flow going forward.
It has some debt maturing in 2022 it expects to pay off with free cash flow. The next dent maturity does not come along until 2025, so Southeastern management will not be forced to scramble to refinance or pay off bondholders.
Given the free cash flow levels and ongoing debt pay down, Southwestern shares could be worth as much as twice the current share price.
Continued demand for cleaner-burning natural gas for electricity generation and industrial use could drive the stock to several multiples of the current quote in the long run.
Wall Street insider Shah Gilani says 2021 could be a gold mine for Americans.
He's showing his subscribers exactly which stocks to buy and which to sell.
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