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£1,000 to spend? 3 penny stocks to buy right now

Never mind about the price volatility that often accompanies cheap UK shares. I think these penny stocks could make me lots of cash over the long term.

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The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

British Pennies on a Pound Note

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I’m searching for the best dirt-cheap shares to buy with £1,000. I think these three quality penny stocks could help me make terrific shareholder profits in the near term and beyond.

Housing hero

Cairn Homes (LSE: CRN) is a great way to play the chronic homes shortage in Ireland, in my opinion. Sure, profits at the business are in danger from strong and sustained cost inflation as supply chain issues persist. But to my mind, the probability that Irish house prices will continue to soar makes this penny stock a brilliant buy. I think low interest rates will continue to turbocharge buyer demand and by extension property values.

Latest financials showed Cairn’s sales soar 61% in the six months to June. Meanwhile its order book leapt from €214m at the start of 2021 to €655m by the midpoint. Pleasingly the business is hiking construction rates to capitalise on this fertile landscape, too. It aims to sell 1,450 home completions in 2022, up from a predicted 1,100 for this year. Cairn Homes trades just below the penny stock limit around 98p per share.

A top electric vehicle stock!

Encouraging operational updates from European Metals Holdings (LSE: EMH) is prompting me to give the penny stock serious consideration. This mining business operates the Cinovec lithium and tin project in north-west Czech Republic. It’s therefore in one of the prime places to capitalise on soaring demand for lithium-ion batteries as European electric vehicle sales grow.

As I say, news coming from European Metals has been extremely bright of late. In October’s most recent update the penny stock upgraded its resource estimate for Cinovec to 7.39m tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent following fresh drilling work. That’s up from a prior prediction of 7.2m tonnes. European Metals has plenty of potential, then, though problems with the development of Cinovec could significantly hit profits projections and cause the share price to slide. Today European Metals trades at 80p per share.

A penny stock for the online shopping boom

I bought Tritax Big Box REIT and Clipper Logistics last year to make money from the e-commerce explosion during and after the Covid-19 crisis. These UK shares provide logistics and warehousing services to help businesses get their product direct to their customers. I also think DX Group (LSE: DX.) could be a great way to ride this theme.

Okay, DX might be a little fish compared to those other two. But it is expanding rapidly to exploit the fast-growing online shopping market, and has opened new depots in Dewsbury, Luton, Verwood, and Burnley in the last three months alone. I’m confident that the company’s solid cash generation should pave the way for sustained expansion too. DX Group trades at 29p per share, and I think it’s a top buy despite the threat posed by HGV driver shortages to its operations.

Royston Wild owns shares of Clipper Logistics and Tritax Big Box REIT. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Clipper Logistics and Tritax Big Box REIT. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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