5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now

If you want to invest in stocks and do well at it, you need to choose your holdings carefully. There are two key factors to keep in mind -- quality and price.

Imagine buying a home, or a car, or even a pair of shoes. You probably won't just buy the loveliest house you see -- as you may not be able to afford it. You probably won't buy the cheapest car you can find, either, because it's not likely to perform well. It's the same when you target stock bargains. A true bargain will be both attractively priced and high-quality.

Seek high quality
Quality matters when you want to target stock bargains, because a high-quality company will have sustainable competitive advantages that will help it keep performing well. Its size might give it economies of scale, for example, or might have consumers sort of locked into its system and reluctant to switch. That can happen with email service providers, as it's a headache to send everyone your new email address. Or consider robotic surgery giant Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) . Once a hospital buys its machines, it won't be likely to buy one from a competing company, as its doctors will have learned how to use Intuitive's machines. Meanwhile, Intuitive will get to collect a lot of recurring revenue from the hospital, in the form of service contracts and supplies for the machines.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now: United Bancorp Inc.(UBCP)

United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Citizens Savings Bank that provides various commercial and retail banking products and services in the northeastern, eastern, southeastern, and south central Ohio. Its deposit products include interest-bearing deposits, certificates of deposit, demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW accounts, and money market deposits. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial, real estate, installment, and consumer loans, as well as letters of credit and lines of credit. It also offers brokerage, night deposit, safe deposit box, and automatic teller machine services. United Bancorp provides banking services through its main office and stand alone operations center in Martins Ferry, Ohio; and 19 branches in Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Athens, Hocking, and Fairfield counties, as well as in the surrounding localities. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Panther Secs(PNS.L)

Panther Securities P.L.C. invests and deals in real estate properties and securities in the United Kingdom. It invests primarily in commercial properties, such as offices, retail units, and bars. The company also invests in residential properties and industrial estates. In addition, it provides real-time information systems, including bookmaking, broadcasting, and digital signage. The company was incorporated in 1934 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Top Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Targacept Inc.(TRGT)

Targacept, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, design, and development of neuronal nicotinic receptors (NNR) therapeutics for the treatment of diseases and disorders of the nervous system. Its products include TC-5214, a nicotinic channel modulator, which is in Phase III clinical trials as an adjunct treatment for depressive disorder; and in Phase IIb clinical trial for switch monotherapy in patients with depressive disorder. The company?s small molecule products include TC-5619, which is under two separate Phase II clinical trials to treat negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, inattentive-predominant attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer?s disease; AZD3480, a product under Phase IIb clinical trials for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer?s disease; AZD1446 for treatment of Alzheimer?s disease; TC-6987 under Phase II clinical trials to treat asthma and type 2 diabetes; and TC-6499 for the treatm ent for gastrointestinal disorders. It has a collaborative research and license agreement with AstraZeneca AB for the development and commercialization of AZD3480, TC-5214, and TC-5619; and a product development and commercialization agreement with SmithKline Beecham Corporation and Glaxo Group Limited to discover, develop, and market product candidates that selectively target specified NNR subtypes in specified therapeutic focus areas. Targacept, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Altra Holdings Inc.(AIMC)

Altra Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Altra Industrial Motion, Inc., designs, produces, and markets a range of mechanical power transmission and motion control products worldwide. The company provides industrial clutches and brakes for elevators, forklifts, lawn mowers, oil well draw works, punch presses, and conveyors; open and enclosed gearing products for conveyors, ethanol mixers, packaging machinery, and metal processing equipment; and engineered couplings for extruders, turbines, steel strip mills, and pumps. It also offers engineered bearing assemblies for cargo rollers, seat storage systems, and conveyors; power transmission components for conveyors, lawn mowers, and machine tools; and engineered belted drives for pumps, sand and gravel conveyors, and industrial fans. The company sells its products under the Warner Electric, Boston Gear, TB Wood?s, Kilian, Nuttall Gear, Ameridrives, Wichita Clutch, Formsprag Clutch, Bibby Transmissions, Stieber, Matrix, In ertia Dynamics, Twiflex, Industrial Clutch, Huco Dynatork, Marland Clutch, Delroyd, Warner Linear, and Bauer Gear Motor brands through its sales force, industrial distributors, and independent sales representatives. It serves aerospace, energy, food processing, general industrial, material handling, mining, petrochemical, transportation, and turf and garden markets. The company is headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Royale Energy Inc.(ROYL)

Royale Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas producer in the United States. It engages in the production and sale of oil and natural gas; acquisition of oil and gas lease interests and proved reserves; drilling of exploratory and development wells; and sale of working interests in wells to be drilled. The company also owns wells and leases located principally in the Sacramento Basin and San Joaquin Basin in California, as well as in Utah, Texas, and Louisiana. In addition, it holds proved developed producing reserves of oil and natural gas in Texas and Louisiana. As of December 31, 2009, Royale Energy operated 52 natural gas wells in California; owned and operated 7 natural gas wells in Utah; and had non operating interests in 17 oil and gas wells in Texas, 3 in Oklahoma, 1 in California, and 2 in Louisiana. It also had proved developed reserves of 4,563 MMcf and total proved reserves of 4,617 MMcf of natural gas; and proved developed oil reserves of 16 Mbbl and total proved oil reserves of 16 Mbbl. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in San Diego, California.