In this article, we will look at the 17 Cheap Stocks Under $20 to Buy Now.
On December 24, Katie Stockton, Fairlead Strategies founder and managing partner, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ to talk about the latest market trends going into 2026. She stated that the market is certainly very close to “new highs”, with the trends showing a loss of momentum since mid-October in a backdrop where the ups and downs were very visible.
The market trends have exhibited volatility, according to her, and it appears to have taken a different character than it had in the earlier stages of the April lows. While that is not necessarily bearish, she did state that we have seen a loss of the intermediate-term momentum that “puts us on a watch for a deeper corrective phase”.
READ ALSO: 12 Most Widely Held Stocks by Hedge Funds in 2025 and 12 Small Cap Stocks to Buy with Huge Upside Potential.
Stockton further stated that she is a believer in breakouts, so if we do see the S&P breakout to new highs, that would translate to a couple of good, solid closes above final resistance. That would be a short-term positive catalyst, assuming otherwise that we are still in this corrective mode and wait for a better entry point. That, according to her, can be triggered by factors such as oversold upturns. Therefore, there are positive catalysts that she would certainly adhere to if they materialize, while noting that the uptrend is still “very much alive and well”.
With these trends in view, lets look at the 17 cheap stocks under $20 to buy now.
Our Methodology
We used stock screeners to make a list of stocks with a forward P/E below 15 and stock price under $20. We then selected the top 17 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund holders as of Q3 2025, sourcing the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund holders.
Note: All data was recorded on December 30.
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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
17 Cheap Stocks Under $20 to Buy Now
17. Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG)
Stock Price: $7.68
Forward P/E: 7.62
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16
Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) is one of the top cheap stocks under $20 to buy now. JPMorgan cut the price target on Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) to EUR 8 from EUR 8.50 on December 16 while maintaining an Overweight rating on the shares. Bank of America Securities also maintained a Buy rating on the stock on December 10, keeping the associated price target the same at €7.50.
The rating update came the same day as Aegon Ltd.’s (NYSE:AEG) Capital Markets Day (CMD) 2025 in London, on which it announced its ambition to become a leading US life insurance and retirement group, along with plans to move its legal seat and head office to the United States. Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) plans to conclude the completion of the re-domiciliation by January 1, 2028, after which the holding company would be renamed Transamerica Inc. The business units would continue their operations under their current brands.
Management further reported that the relocation decision came after the review announced in August 2025, with the initiative supporting Aegon Ltd.’s (NYSE:AEG) commitment to prioritize resources to build a leading US life insurance and retirement group. The company expects to begin reporting under US GAAP for the first time at its full-year 2027 results, and will cease publishing trading updates in 2026 and 2027 to facilitate the transition. It would limit disclosures to comprehensive half-year reporting, and its common stock will remain listed on NYSE and Euronext following the relocation.
Aegon Ltd. (NYSE:AEG) is an international financial services company that provides protection, investment, and retirement solutions. The company’s operations are divided into the following segments: Americas, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, International, Asset Management, and Holding and Other Activities.
16. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)
Stock Price: $11.88
Forward P/E: 12.01
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) is one of the top cheap stocks under $20 to buy now. Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy by DZ Bank on December 19 with a EUR 10 price target.
In a separate development, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) announced on December 9 that its U.S. broker-dealer, Santander US Capital Markets LLC, entered into a strategic equity research alliance with MoffettNathanson LLC, focused on the Technology, Media, and Telecom industry. MoffettNathanson is a leading independent equity research publisher with a team of analysts that offers critical insight into influential companies in sectors across the Technology, Media, and Telecom industry.
The initiative marks Santander CIB’s fourth U.S. equity research alliance, coming after earlier agreements with Vertical Research Partners LLC (industrials and materials), Telsey Advisory Group LLC (retail, consumer, and e-commerce), and Nephron Research LLC (healthcare).
Management further reported that the alliance would allow Santander CIB to bolster its U.S. client offerings through the expansion of access to specialized equity research and sector intelligence via MoffettNathanson. In addition, Santander’s global scale, cross-border reach, and capital markets expertise would position MoffettNathanson to expand its impact with institutional investors across the globe.
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) also received a rating update from RBC Capital on December 5, who reaffirmed a Hold rating on the stock and set a price target of €8.50.
Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) is a Spain-based company that operates as a retail and commercial bank. Its segments are scattered across Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and the United States.
