In this article, we will look at the 8 Cheap Penny Stocks to Buy Right Now. Let’s look at where Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (LFT) stands against other cheap penny stocks.

The economy of the United States has stabilized, with inflation continuously cooling down and the risk of recession overruled. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on September 18, slashing them by half a point as a start to its first easing cycle in four years. The Federal Reserve statement said:

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced on September 30 that the recent aggressive half-percentage point interest rate cuts should not be interpreted as a sign that future rate cuts would also be as aggressive. Instead, they are likely to be smaller. Talking to the National Association for Business Economics, he said:

Powell expressed confidence in the country’s economic strength, claiming that inflation is expected to continue cooling. He also indicated that if the economic data shows consistency in the coming days, two more rate cuts would likely materialize in 2024. These, however, are expected to come in smaller quarter percentage point increments. This trend goes against market expectations for more aggressive cuts and easing.

During a Q&A session after his speech in Nashville, Tennessee, he said that:

Sustainable Growth Expected in Small Caps Amidst Market Shifts

On July 26, Nathan Moser, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Impax Asset Management, discussed some long-term possibilities for small-cap stocks on Schwab Network. Talking about the recent changes in small stocks, he discussed the positive shift and noted that the recent rise in small caps appears more sustainable after years of struggle. This trend is primarily driven by strong inflows into ETFs and passive investment vehicles.

Despite short-term volatility, Mooser believes the market’s current move could last for years. He thus encouraged buying on market dips, while highlighting the need to focus on profitable, high-quality companies due to the potential risks typically associated with lower-quality stocks in small caps.

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Our Methodology

We first consulted stock screeners from Finviz and Yahoo Finance to create an initial list of 15 publicly traded penny stocks with forward P/E ratios of less than 15 as of October 1, 2024. From this list, we selected the 8 stocks with the highest number of hedge funds holders as of Q2 2024, and used that as our ranking metric. The stocks we identified are profitable, have positive EPS growth, and are expected to remain profitable in the future as well.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

8 Cheap Penny Stocks to Buy Right Now

Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT)

Share Price: $2.52

Forward P/E: 6.33

EPS Growth This Year: 53.80%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 5

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) is a real estate investment trust that invests in, originates, finances, and manages a commercial real estate debt investment portfolio. Its primary focus is transitional floating-rate CRE mortgage loans while emphasizing middle-market multifamily assets. It also invests in other CRE-related investments, including preferred equity, mezzanine loans, commercial mortgage-backed securities, construction loans, fixed-rate loans, and other CRE debt instruments.

The company’s mortgage loan investment portfolio comprises around 88 senior secured floating rate loans with around $1.4 billion in aggregate unpaid principal balance. Lument Investment Management, LLC externally manages the company. Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) holds a competitive advantage due to its expertise in the origination, underwriting, and active asset management of multifamily mortgage investments. It also boasts strong sponsorships from the broader Lument and ORIX platforms, positioning it as a value proposition in today’s public markets. Despite the current challenging environment, the company raised its common dividend by $0.01 in June. This represents a 14% sequential increase over Q1.

It also fully deployed its capital into strong, predominantly multifamily credits by the end of 2023. Since then, it has focused on actively managing its loan investment portfolio.

The company has differentiated itself from its market peers by focusing on middle-market multifamily credit, allowing it to deliver a stable and sustainable dividend to its shareholders and preserve shareholder capital. According to the company, multifamily, particularly middle-market multifamily, is expected to remain a strong-performing asset class in the long term despite a modest softening of multifamily fundamentals.

Lument Finance (NYSE:LFT) continually maintains a strong liquidity position, with around $65 million in unrestricted cash on its balance sheet. Persistent elevated short-term rates have allowed the company to produce attractive returns on its cash balance. Intentionally adopting a defensive cash position, Lument Finance (NYSE:LFT) has gained the flexibility to manage the more challenging credits in its portfolio.

Overall, LFT ranks sixth among the 8 cheap penny stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of LFT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LFT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.