5 Top Stocks at Half Price

You love buying your shirts when they go on sale. And who can resist a buy-one-get-one-free offer? So when our stocks go on sale, why do we bemoan their low prices?

Smart investors like Warren Buffett or Marty Whitman love it when their stocks are suddenly selling at bargain-basement prices. For them, these companies become no-brainer buys.

The investors in the Motley Fool CAPS community also like a bargain, apparently. Below, you'll find five companies whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but which still earn top five-star honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on stocks.

Naturally, we want you to look a bit closer at these stocks before buying. You can get low-priced appliances in the dent-and-ding section of your home-remodeling superstore, but their quality might not be so good. Same thing here: Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with the company before you plug it into your portfolio.

Take two; they're small
Leucadia National is often compared to a miniature Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), exhibiting many of the same characteristics, including value-oriented strategies for finding troubled or out-of-favor stocks. Recently, it even began a joint venture with its better-known cousin to purchase the mortgage loan and servicing business of troubled Capmark Financial.

For Berkshire Hathaway, the deal is yet another sign that the Oracle of Omaha believes the housing industry is ready for a turnaround. He's also the largest shareholder in Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), the country's largest mortgage lender. Leucadia, meanwhile, is slowly increasing its exposure to the market; property management and domestic real estate comprise 15% of its revenue. But the conglomerate has reported decreases in revenue for each quarter compared with the previous one since the first quarter of last year. Even though overall segment revenue has fallen, it's become a steadily larger proportion of the total.

CAPS member Thlete is impressed with Leucadia's solid credentials: "I like the diversity and the great reputation of management of being shareholder friendly. Good track record for outperforming the market."

Packing it away
Investors are all too familiar with the opportunities for exploration in the Marcellus, Barnett, and Haynesville areas, but the Columbia River Basin has been pretty much ignored. Delta Petroleum has kept its eye on it, however, and last year maneuvered to grab EnCana's acreage there.

With natural gas prices at record lows, consumers ought to benefit this winter. Prices have dropped as low as $2.50 per thousand cubic feet, a level not seen since 2002, as inventories have risen 18% above their five-year average. Because of the depressed pricing, Delta Petroleum left 23 wells uncompleted in the Rockies last quarter, though it has been moving forward in the Columbia River Basin with encouraging developments.

Despite the current conditions, CAPS All-Star member welshes1999 likes the outlook:

I like NatGas as an investment for the long term (2-4 yrs). Used by industry, heating, and primary source for electricity generation. Encouraged by consistently high DPTR trade volume. Large number of proven reserves (Columbia River Basin, Delta has over 20% of the total land acreage tied up) and a expansive number of prospective drilling assets in development. By nature I'm a value investor, I think this is a winner in the long term, especially at the current price.

Have half a mind
It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. 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 stocks are twice as good at half the price.