Wall Street's Best Hidden Stocks

When asked for the secret of his success, baseball player Wee Willie Keeler replied, "Hit 'em where they ain't." What worked for Willie at the plate applies equally well in investing. 

Seeking stocks that others ignore, shun, or simply forget gives individual investors like you an edge over the professionals. When Wall Street turns a blind eye, you have a chance to get in before these stocks get discovered -- or rediscovered -- and start taking off. 

Below, we'll check out companies with only a handful of analyst coverage and then pair our list with the opinions of the Motley Fool CAPS community. A stock that garners CAPS' top ratings, but hasn't yet caught analysts' attention, could be your next home run investment. 

Sources: Yahoo! Finance and Motley Fool CAPS; NA = not available.

Remember, without much analyst support, you'll have to do your own scouting to see whether these stocks deserve a spot on your portfolio's roster. Don't just buy or sell them based solely on their appearance here. 

Hiding in plain sight
Rising oil prices will keep drillers moving the fuel source, benefiting pipeline and transport companies such as Williams (NYSE: WMB) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), which provide the infrastructure to transport and store oil and gas.

It ought to benefit Ameron International as well, since it makes the fiberglass composite pipes that oil companies use aboard their marine vessels and offshore oil platforms. Your local gas station uses them, too, in their underground piping systems. And because of its noncorrosive nature, the petrochemical-industry, chemical-processing, water-transmission, and even wind-power companies (for their towers) find the fiberglass composite materials superior.

It's no surprise, then, that National Oilwell Varco would also find Ameron an attractive asset. It's a leader itself in providing infrastructure to the oil and gas industry, and Ameron neatly fits into its portfolio. An offer to buy Ameron for $772 million cash, or $85 a share, is expected to close before the end of the year.

That explains why all but one of the CAPS All-Stars rating the pipeline maker believed it would outperform the broad market averages. Naturally, the deal has attracted the trial lawyers who claim the 28% premium that the bid offered undervalues the company. One analyst had pegged Ameron's valuation at $90 a share before the acquisition, and it was only in December of last year that Ameron had traded at around $85 a share without the benefit of a buyout.

It sounds to me like a bargain, but tell us in the comments section below or on the Ameron CAPS page whether you think National Oilwell's merger offer is getting a quality company on the cheap.

Backing up the truck?
Wireless backhaul operator DragonWave should be a top-notch company, having helped build out Sprint's (NYSE: S) 4G network. But the bet on WiMax isn't paying dividends, as long-term evolution (LTE) is generally seen as the future of communications, and its ties to struggling Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) have destined it to bump along the bottom. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that DragonWave reported its third consecutive quarterly loss as revenues barely hit the low end of previously lowered guidance.

With a top sales executive leaving the company, DragonWave has its work cut out for it, but it's scheduled to unveil a full strategic review today. The company has been scrambling to lessen the impact that a single customer has on its own fortunes is are looking for a number of these deals to hit in the back half of the year.

Despite the well-publicized troubles, highly rated CAPS All-Star member senojmas thinks the growth of mobile communications will make room for many players: "To dramatically [increase] bandwidth from cell towers to backbone to cost effectively support increases in smart phone and [tablet] use by major carriers."

Add DragonWave to your watchlist and see whether it can haul itself up again.

Cheap is for me
There's good reason investors saw China as a huge growth market, and many of those theses panned out. And while there's undoubtedly still lots of growth left there, a number of factors that made it particularly attractive no longer hold true.

For example, many manufacturers shifted jobs overseas because Chinese factory workers were much cheaper than a union worker at home. But the influx of jobs there and the resulting growth of China's economy have also lifted the wages of workers, making them not quite the bargain they once were. That's why Coach has said it's looking to countries like Vietnam to find the next low-wage-worker market to make its pricey handbags.

Expect Thailand to receive closer scrutiny, too. As one of these so-called "frontier nations," it's going to provide the next launching pad for growth, though the recently elected government might not address the nation's inflation concerns. The winning party is looking to implement progressive-style programs that analysts say could undercut the economy, so investors should use caution. The iShares MSCI Thailand Market Index would provide a way to get some exposure to the country without all the risk of a direct investment in the volatile economy.

Add the ETF to the Fool's free portfolio tracker and see whether you get what you pay for.

Swing for the fences
When seeking investments where no one else is looking, Motley Fool CAPS is the best place to start your own research. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page. 

Sign up today for the completely free service, and tell us whether these hidden stock opportunities will help us go one up on Wall Street.