With most things, a higher price tag generally reflects a higher valuation. A $500,000 house is usually worth more than a $200,000 house. An $80,000 car is worth more than a $40,000 car.
However, it's a different story with stocks. A stock with a low price could actually be worth more than a stock with a much higher price.
This is great news if you don't have a lot of money to invest. You can find great picks that don't cost a lot of money. With this in mind, here are three no-brainer stocks to buy right now for less than $100.
1. Brookfield Renewable
There are actually two Brookfield Renewable (BEP 0.90%) (BEPC +0.00%) stocks. The limited partnership (LP) trades under the BEP ticker, while the corporate entity trades under the BEPC ticker. Both stocks have the same underlying business -- and both are priced below $30 per share.
NYSE: BEP
Key Data Points
The two Brookfield Renewable stocks have underperformed, compared to the broader market this year. Wall Street, though, thinks they have a lot of room to run. For example, the consensus 12-month price target for BEPC is nearly 19% above the current share price.
I think that Brookfield Renewable is an easy pick for long-term investors. The demand for renewable energy will almost certainly soar over the next decade and beyond as countries and major companies strive to hit their carbon reduction goals. Brookfield Renewable is poised to help meet this demand with a development pipeline that's more than 4.5x larger than its current operational capacity.
Income investors should especially like Brookfield Renewable. BEP's distribution yield tops 5.1%, while BEPC's yield is nearly 4.7%. The company has increased its distribution by a compound annual growth rate of 6% since 2012 and expects to continue growing the distribution between 5% and 9% annually.
2. CVS Health
2023 has been a horrible year for CVS Health (CVS +0.49%). The healthcare-giant's shares have fallen nearly 20%. But there's a lot to like about this beaten-down stock.
NYSE: CVS
Key Data Points
CVS is cheap in more ways than one. Its share price is around $75. More importantly, the stock trades at a bargain forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8.8. By comparison, the S&P 500's forward earnings multiple is 21.5.
The company's business remains solid. CVS Health's revenue jumped 10.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2023 to $89.8 billion. The company posted a profit of nearly $2.3 billion -- a big improvement from the $3.4 billion loss recorded in the prior-year period.
As icing on the cake, CVS Health's dividend yield stands at close to 3.6%. The company recently announced an increase of 9.9% for its next dividend, payable on Feb. 1, 2024.
3. PayPal Holdings
PayPal Holdings (PYPL 2.61%) is another stock available for well under $100 that I think is a no-brainer pick right now. Sure, the stock appears to be on track to finish in negative territory for the third year in a row. However, that makes PayPal even more appealing.
NASDAQ: PYPL
Key Data Points
The fintech stock trades at around 10.9x expected earnings. The valuation metric that I especially find intriguing, though, is PayPal's price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.51. Any PEG ratio below 1 is considered attractive.
PayPal's business is also performing better than you might think after looking at its stock performance. The company's revenue jumped 8% year over year in Q3 to $7.4 billion. Its adjusted earnings per share soared 20%.
Although PayPal doesn't pay a dividend, it offers the next best thing -- stock buybacks. The digital-payments company returned $5.4 billion to shareholders in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2023 through share repurchases.
