Our latest advice on four small cap stocks

Article Excerpt

Small cap stocks are companies with market caps (or the value of all their outstanding shares) below $2 billion, or some other arbitrary figure. Many investors avoid small caps like the four we analyze below, because they’re generally more volatile than large cap stocks. These four also operate in the cyclical Manufacturing & Industry sector. Nonetheless, they are all leaders in their niche markets, which cuts their risk. But most have seen their share prices rise sharply in the past few months, so we only see two as buys right now. TENNANT CO. $62 (New York symbol TNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 18.4 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tennantco.com) makes industrial floor-cleaning equipment, including scrubbers, sweepers and polishers. It also manufactures cleaning gear for garages, stadiums, parking lots and city streets. The company continues to enjoy strong demand for floor cleaners that use its ec-H2O technology,…