Wall Street's Best Unknown 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, 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. 

Source: Yahoo! Finance. NA = not available.

Remember, without 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. 

A utility player
It's hard to imagine that after brewing global brands like Becks and Stella Artois, let alone Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch InBev is an "unknown" company. But because Bud returned to the public markets a year ago after having been subsumed in 2008 by the Begian brewer, the analyst community apparently hasn't caught up yet. Where just two analysts are following InBev, Molson Coors has almost a dozen. Even Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM), the maker of Samuel Adams, is followed by five analysts.

That creates opportunities for investors to get back into the brewery giant before the broader market catches on. CAPS All-Star TMFMuse prefers craft brewers like the maker of Redhook, Craft Brewers Alliance (Nasdaq: HOOK), but thinks AB InBev gives him an overview of the industry:

I'm interested in the growth of craft brews (SAM, HOOK, etc.), so this call is to keep an eye on whole pie. Trends in consumption are anti-beer (pro liquor) at the moment, but that will cycle around. I've little doubt that BUD will do well in the long run.

It probably doesn't hurt that Bud has an equity investment in Redhook, using its muscular distribution network to deliver the microbrew into select markets.

An oil slick
Ever since a BP (NYSE: BP) rig collapsed from an explosion in April, the outlook for the industry has only gotten worse, its surge this week notwithstanding. With a six-month moratorium in place on deepwater drilling, BP isn't the only company facing a financial tumult from the spill. A Bank of America analyst pegs its baseline cleanup costs at $28 billion.

Bristow Group, a helicopter transport service provider in the Gulf, is expecting an 85% drop in revenue this month. Superior Energy (NYSE: SPN) says earnings could take a $0.20 per share hit in the second half -- a 20% blow to consensus earnings. The hit could have been worse, but Superior will be able to mitigate much of the damage by focusing on other aspects of its business, like well control, engineering services, and tool rental.

Callon Petroleum will also able to insulate itself from the worst of drilling ban's impact by shifting virtually all of its capital spending budget to on-shore activities. Diversified assets look like the key to surviving this disaster.

With 94% of the more than 450 CAPS members who've rated Callon saying it will outperform the market, our investing community seems to believe that its foray into the Haynesville shale formation was a timely maneuver. Drill deep on the Callon Petroleum CAPS page, and tell us whether this remains a slick opportunity.

Kicking it higher
Ever since Somaxon Pharmaceuticals overcame two previous rejections to gain FDA approval for its sleep aid Silenor, its stock has been sliding from the lofty heights it hit on the news. Perhaps the euphoria's wearing off as investors realize that Silenor will face tough competition from sanofi-aventis' Ambien and King Pharmaceutical's Sonata.

CAPS member jayjudah thinks Somaxon is a buyout candidate now, but WPThatcher thinks it's just burning through too much cash to ever be successful. Don't sleep on this one! Head over to the Somaxon Pharmaceutical CAPS page and tuck in your opinion on its future.

Swing for the fences
When you're 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.