8 Stocks Under $15 to Buy in 2021

Buying low-priced stocks is no guarantee of investing success. In fact, a good argument can be made for just the opposite: Cheap stocks are cheap for a reason.

Yet sometimes some very good companies are knocked down by the market, and the setback, while valid, is only temporary. Other times companies get crushed for no good reason. Being able to sift the good companies unfairly put in the bargain bin from those that deserve to be there isn't always easy.

To help investors separate the wheat from the chaff, here are eight stocks under $15 that you should consider buying in 2021.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Real estate investment trust (REIT) Apartment & Investment Management (NYSE: AIV) is not the same company it was in 2020, and that's for the better for most investors. The REIT split itself in two last year, calving off most of its property management business while retaining the property developer and redeveloper component (along with a small -- about 10% -- portion of its prior portfolio). It was also removed from the S&P 500 index in favor of Tesla.

It's true Apartment & Investment Management will be a REIT with a higher risk profile by focusing on development and redevelopment opportunities that could yield higher returns, without the same sort of stable cash flows that the spinoff Apartment Income REIT (NYSE: AIRC) will possess, but it will be one that offers greater potential rewards, so long as you don't make it a big part of your own portfolio.

ALSO READ: 5 Great REITs to Play the Economic Recovery

ARKO (Nasdaq: ARKO) is a newly public convenience store chain that came to life in December through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Through its operating entity, GPM, it runs approximately 2,950 locations comprising approximately 1,350 company-operated stores and 1,600 dealer sites to which it supplies fuel, in 33 states.

The convenience store industry has grown over 3% annually for the past decade, with a 9.5% compound annual growth rate in revenue as the fill-in shopping option while filling the gas tank is a real consumer convenience.

GPM operates on a growth-by-acquisition strategy, and now having achieved size and scale, it can enhance organic growth as well through better marketing and merchandising.

Cloudera (NYSE: CLDR) is in the midst of a transformation that ought to help propel the big data and analytics specialist's stock upward when the markets catches on.

The company originally offered an on-site infrastructure and application software for data management, which has become less an imperative in a world increasingly moving into the cloud.

That's why names like Snowflake have garnered so much attention, causing investors to ignore Cloudera's legacy data warehousing operations. Yet Cloudera now offers a new hybrid and multicloud solution that operates across private and public clouds, though that has yet to meaningfully hit its financial statements. As more of Cloudera's customers transition to this new platform, their impact will be greater and the benefits will flow through to an enhanced valuation.

Another investment brought to the fore via a SPAC, Clover Health Investments (Nasdaq: CLOV) is a provider of private insurance for those on Medicare.

Its Medicare Advantage platform is currently very small, operating in just seven states with around 57,000 members, but it seeks to tap into the $4 trillion that's spent annually in the U.S. medical care system, suggesting there's a long runway of growth ahead of it.

Although nominally just another Medicare insurance provider, Clover cedes more control to patients and providers, which ought to make it an attractive alternative to its larger brethren. It does so by boosting preventative care and treatment, lowering costs below that of traditional Medicare, and thereby earning a rebate from the government. In turn, Clover uses a portion of that to provide additional benefits or reduce patient co-pays.

ALSO READ: 3 Healthcare Stocks That Can Double Your Money in 2021

Designer footwear specialist Designer Brands (NYSE: DBI) was kicked to the curb during the pandemic because retail outlets were shuttered and there were fewer occasions for people to wear casual or dress shoes. As the economy is reopening, Designer Brands is reinvigorating its lineup of footwear with a greater assortment of athletic and workout shoes.

Home fitness was the trend in 2020, and it's likely to carry on for some time into the future. It's not an underserved market by any stretch, and Designer Brands has a challenge in convincing consumers to consider its footwear instead of the established competition. But with a strong lineup of outlets to sell to and a vertically integrated design and manufacturing operation, it's got a better-than-average chance of high-stepping into growth again quickly.

5 Winning Stocks Under $49
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by the Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!” And it’s true. And while Amazon and Netflix have had a good run, we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Simply click here to learn how to get your copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Sure, electric vehicle (EV) makers like Tesla and NIO might get more attention, but Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) could become a household name in EVs all the same. Having invested $11 billion into the market, and backing Rivian alongside Amazon.com, the automaker is poised to be a force to contend with.

Better still, even its traditional lineup of cars and trucks could be a showstopper this year as pent-up demand from the COVID-19 outbreak causes a new surge in vehicle purchases. It's going into the new year with low dealer inventories and a low hurdle to get over in terms of comparisons, leading to plenty of upside surprise potential in store.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) is another turnaround play as it has shed billions in assets to focus on certain sectors with new growth potential, including commercial aviation, healthcare, and power and renewable energy.

The hope is that a COVID-19 vaccine will spur travel and tourism again to lift commercial flights once more, while the pandemic moving further into the rearview mirror will get margins to improve as equipment orders return with people resuming postponed elective surgeries. Cost cutting is seen as the improvement to expect in the power and energy field that will lead to GE producing positive free cash flow once more.

ALSO READ: 3 Top Dividend Stocks That Just Went on Sale

Not surprisingly, mobile gaming operation Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) had a pretty good year last year as people who were shut in with few entertainment options picked up their mobile phones and played even more games on them. Investors can expect that to continue.

The advent of 5G networks should make playing mobile games an even better experience, and Zynga's acquisition strategy should further expand its library of games to attract more users. It ended last year with 31 million daily active users and 83 million monthly active users, or more than it had at any time during the last six years or so.

With an $11 billion market valuation, Zynga is a large-cap stock with a small-cap price and opportunity.

There's nothing magical about buying low-priced stocks, and even one share of Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) lower-priced class A shares, which are priced at over $35,000 a stub, is a better investment than any penny stock.

Still, many investors feel like they're getting more bang for their buck by being able to buy more than a handful of shares by investing in lower-priced issues. The eight stocks above might just be where you can get your start this year.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Snowflake Inc., Tesla, and Zynga. The Motley Fool owns shares of Clover Health Investments,. The Motley Fool recommends Designer Brands Inc and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon, short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short March 2021 $225 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.