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 that still earn high honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on these 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
Crude-oil-shipping company General Maritime recently reported that voyage revenues were barely higher while expenses soared for the latest quarter. Net voyage revenues per vessel day, also called time charter equivalent (TCE), tumbled 38% while the company's total average daily spot rate fell 87% to $5,677, compared with $44,427 a year ago.

Lower demand for oil means countries find little need to ship it around the globe. Mounting unemployment here at home is pointing to a recovery that's not as strong as had been hoped, and even Energy Department data showing a drop in oil stockpiles couldn't move oil prices into high gear. Yet inventories are growing worldwide, and London shipbroker Simpson, Spence & Young says so much oil is being stored at sea that there are 112 tankers with a combined capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tons, a 17% increase over previously reported levels.

All this means that investors probably shouldn't expect a big jump in value for General Maritime's stock, or for the stocks of similarly situated Frontline (NYSE:FRO) and Teekay, for that matter. Yet when you compare those companies, General Maritime might be the more inviting investment for the long term. Its dividend is yielding more than 7%, which CAPS member Trek930SHX likes.

I've owned this stock for a few years and while the price has been all over the place, dividends have been continually strong!

Indeed, management says it picked the current dividend rate last quarter and kept it through a recent amendment to its bank notes because it's comfortable with the payment, even if the pricing environment doesn't immediately improve. Indeed, that environment is leading the shipper to begin thoughtfully considering expansion. It might not put its own fleet on the market just yet, but conditions warrant looking at what others are selling.

General Maritime could be the entry point to a lagging industry right now. It does have more than its fair share of debt, but a recent $300 million private placement of notes will be used to pay some of that off. The shipper's shares have been beaten down compared with those of its rivals, but that means it just may offer the best growth opportunity.

Bigger slice, smaller pie?
Unlike Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), electronics retailer Conn's also sells a variety of consumer goods including furniture and mattresses. Despite the tough economy, it said those other areas of its business actually enjoyed 10% growth last quarter while appliances and electronics fell 6.5%. It says that means it actually gained market share from its rivals because sales of home furnishings fell more than 10% nationally while electronics and such were down more than 11%.

The market wasn't really in the mood for such semantics. When Conn's announced it was going to post a loss for the quarter and pulled its practice of issuing guidance, it lost 25% of its value in the market.

CAPS member Teacherman1 writes that the reaction was an overreaction, while WorthyPresage finds the market niche a bit confusing.

As far as a stock pick, it looks very good at this price; however, my personal opinion of the store is pretty weak. Just by looking at what they carry, I don't understand their marketing position. They have been around for ages but they are only just now are emerging in my awareness. I'm keeping an eye on Conn's for now but vote outperform

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.