There are many stocks that investors have performed very well recently, such as the companies mentioned below, but they don’t receive much attention.
Investors are typically interested in popular stocks with a huge trading volume. However, many companies report strong earnings, have impressive share price appreciation and offer growth potential for investors, but lack a large trading volume. These stocks shouldn’t be ruled out by investors just because of their low volume.
Here are a few stocks that deserve more investor attention and have an average trading volume below $1 million.
Blue Bird (BLBD)
Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) is a school bus manufacturer that produces a wide range of buses, including diesel, propane, natural gas and electric. It primarily serves state governments and service centers. It also operates a parts distribution center.
On May 8, Blue Bird reported earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024. Total revenue increased by 15% year-over-year to $346 million. Earnings per share went from 22 cents per share in Q2 FY 2023 to 79 cents per share in Q2 FY 2024.
Blue Bird also increased its financial guidance for 2024, with expected revenue in the range of $1.275 billion to $1.375 billion. Record sales of electric buses increased by over 56% from the previous year, and there is a substantial backlog of roughly 500 orders.
Improved guidance, on top of a massive increase in electric bus sales, caused BLBD’s stocks to skyrocket by nearly 50% since its Q2 FY 2024 report.
It beat analyst predictions regarding earrings by a wide margin, with an average trading volume of around 500,000. It’s still a stock that deserves investors, especially after its incredible quarterly earnings and increased guidance.
Costamare (CMRE)
Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) is a marine shipping company that operates dry bulk vessels and containerships. It owns one of the industry’s largest fleets of containerships for charter.
Over the past year, its share price has increased by 87% due to its announcement of a new leasing program and its very solid liquidity position of $1,106.0 million.
On May 10, Costamare reported earnings for the first quarter of 2024, stating that total revenue increased by 89% and adjusted net income rose by 62% compared to the previous year.
Its new leasing platform has enabled CMRE to fund 24 shipping assets totaling $258 million.
It offers a decent dividend yield of 2.94% on an annual basis. The most recent dividend payment distributed to investors was for 12 cents per share on May 6.
Costamare beat analyst expectations for earnings and still offers investors impressive growth potential. Its average trading volume is roughly 500,000, similar to BLBD.
However, with an impressive liquidity position, improved earrings and share price appreciation, CMRE should garner much more investors’ attention.
Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM)
Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) is a food retail chain distributing fresh and organic food products. It offers a wide range of grocery items, including purchasable and non-perishable dairy, frozen foods, beverages, seafood, meats and supplements.
Over this past year, its share price has increased by 129% due to its strong earnings potential.
On May 1, Sprouts announced its earnings for the first quarter of 2024, stating that total sales increased by 9% and net income increased by 50% year-over-year. In the first quarter, SFM also opened seven new store locations, which brings its total number of stores to 424 across 23 states.
The full-year 2024 outlook announces that revenue is expected to increase by 7% to 8%, and approximately 35 new stores should be opened.
Sprouts Farmers Market announced on May 23 that it has updated its share buyback program for $600 million in share repurchases. This new program replaces Sprouts’ former buyback program, which had approximately $120 million remaining.
SFM is a strong buy food retail company that offers investors upside potential, due to its expanding business model of increasing store locations and strong financials. SFM’s average trading volume hovers around 800,000, which makes it a stock that many investors aren’t aware of.
As of this writing, Noah Bolton did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
