10 Best Value Stocks To Buy In April 2022
SoFi Technologies, Inc.
Aptly named, SoFi Technologies is a social finance company that operates a predominantly online platform specializing in many financial services. The company made a name for itself by offering more affordable student loans but has since expanded its offerings. Today, customers can expect a wide array of services that include (but are not limited to) student loan refinancing, private student loans, personal loans, auto loan refinance, home loans, mortgage loans, and investments. They also offer insurance products for renters, homeowners, automobiles, and others.
SoFi’s price-to-sales ratio makes the stock look expensive from traditional valuation metrics. At 10.86x, the company’s price-to-sales ratio is one of the highest in the consumer finance industry. On the other hand, the price to book is only slightly above the industry median. The stock looks expensive on paper, but today’s valuations don’t appear to account for the company’s ability to disrupt one of the biggest industries in the world. Additionally, many analysts have already started adjusting their price targets, with several big names suggesting nearly 100% upside over the next 12 months.
Analysts are starting to see that Wall Street may be undervaluing SoFi, and it’s about time retail investors got the opportunity they deserve. At the very least, the company’s most recent quarter suggests SoFi is on the right track (despite its lofty $14.10 billion market cap). Not only is SoFi on the brink of receiving an official bank charter, but its lending business has grown 14.0% year over year. For anyone looking for a growth company, 14.0% may not look great, but SoFi’s Galileo should pick up the slack. Add in SoFi’s growing list of services, and each customer brought in will be introduced to several new products, making acquisitions all the more valuable.
SoFi still has a long way to go, and competition in the fin-tech industry is a real threat. However, if they can increase their customer base, SoFi will continue to look like one of the best value stocks in today’s market.
Ford Motor Company
Even with its recent success, Ford looks like one of the best value stocks to buy in 2022. With a fairly valued price-to-earnings growth ratio, Ford appears to be trading below the auto industry’s median PEG of 0.06x. Competitors like GM are trading at higher valuations, but Ford remains an industry leader. The reason for the discount may be attributed to Ford’s shortcomings in some international markets in the past. Still, Jim Farley (the new CEO) has vowed to make the company more profitable by “trimming the fat.” Farley appears to be a man of his word, and investors like what they see; the stock has tested new highs for the better part of the last few years.
Despite resting right around its 52-week high, however, Ford looks to be one of the best value stocks to buy now. Not only is it an industry leader priced below its competitors, but Ford is making very promising headway in the electric vehicle (EV) department. The Mustang Mach-E is already selling well, and Ford has yet to release the F-150 Lighting ( an electric version of the world’s best-selling pickup truck). Only months away from its release, Ford had to stop preorders on the Lightning because they were receiving too many, which bodes incredibly well for the stock. If preorders are any indication, the Lightning will do well for the Ford company and its share prices.
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, otherwise known simply as Target, is a nationwide retailer with approximately 1,897 stores sprawling from coast to coast. The company offers retail shoppers just about everything they could ever need, from groceries and personal care products to apparel and home decor. As a one-stop-shop for consumer needs, Target thrived over the course of the pandemic. The retailer’s sales soared as customers turned to Target in favor of many of its competitors.
Due—in large part—to an infrastructure that was able to adapt to online shopping and a large, faithful consumer base, Target ended last year with more than $15 billion in sales growth. For context, last year’s sales grew more than the previous eleven combined. For all intents and purposes, the pandemic served as a catalyst for Target.
Despite resting comfortably as an industry leader, however, Target boasts a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.11x. Target’s PEG ratio looks inexpensive compared to the Multiline Retail industry’s PEG of 1.32x and competitors like Walmart. Additionally, Target shares are trading somewhere around 15 times trailing 12-month earnings, which low for a company doing so well.
If its current valuation isn’t enough to convince you that Target is one of the best value stocks to buy right now, the broader market transition out of tech and into tangible commodities with real revenue should do the job. The looming threat of rising inflation is causing an exodus from growth stocks into companies with real products and revenue. As a result, Target not only looks like it has some room to run because of its current valuation and promising future, but it’s reasonable to assume it will see a lot of buyers come its way in the first part of 2022.
DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc.
DICK’S Sporting Goods is an online and physical store retailer which provides goods and services in the sporting goods industry. As its name suggests, each of its stores across the United States sells sporting goods equipment, fitness equipment, golf equipment, and hunting and fishing gear products. DICK’S Sporting Goods also owns Golf Galaxy, Field & Stream, other specialty concept stores, and a youth sports mobile app. Together, a nationwide network of stores has made DICK’S Sporting Goods one of the country’s most trusted sporting goods stores.
However, even with its popularity, DICK’S Sporting Goods was hit hard in the early stages of the pandemic. With a large footprint of physical stores, the retailer took a big loss when quarantines closed many of its locations. When the market crashed, DICK’S Sporting Goods’ stock price dropped about 132%. Since then, the stock has come roaring back and is now at an all-time high. Still, DICK’S Sporting Goods looks like one of the best value stocks to buy right now.
Over the course of the pandemic, more and more people have turned their attention towards health and fitness. As a result, DICK’S Sporting Goods entered into last year with a lot of momentum. According to CEO Edward Stack, “during this pandemic, the importance of health and fitness has accelerated and participation in socially distant, outdoor activities has increased,” and so has DICK’S Sporting Goods’ bottom line.
The company has performed well, and the stock still trades at a bargain. With a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70x, DKS is trading well under industry peers. If that wasn’t enough, DKS seems inexpensive with a PEG value of 0.47x, below the Specialty Retail industry median PEG of 0.83x. There’s no doubt about it; DKS looks relatively cheap, especially when compared to how most stocks are trading today. Additionally, the company appears to have a lot of secular tailwinds working in its favor.
The Walt Disney Company
To be clear, Disney is not a value play in the traditional sense. With a PEG ratio of 3.16x, it’s easy to suggest Disney may be overvalued. Subsequently, Disney’s 128.82x PE ratio is amongst the highest in the entertainment industry. Every pure valuation metric suggests Disney is trading for more than it should. However, today’s best stocks deserve high valuations. Disney is highly valued because it is one of the most beloved companies globally with perhaps the most valuable intellectual property ever seen.
Despite its valuation, Disney looks like a great deal at the moment. In particular, investors weren’t happy with the number of new Disney+ subscribers. Fewer people signed up than expected, which sent the stock tumbling about 10% in after-hours trading. However, it needs to be noted that Disney has more up its sleeves than its streaming service. Most notably, Disney parks worldwide are up and running again, and revenue was up $3.5 billion in the third quarter. The latest selloff suggests people may have forgotten how profitable the company’s theme parks are. Revenue is returning, and customers are paying more than before the pandemic ever happened. Price increases haven’t scared anyone away and could make today’s stock valuation look like a great deal.
Meta Platforms, Inc.
Formerly known as Facebook, Meta Platforms, Inc. is now one of the best value stocks to buy in today’s market. However, for those who aren’t familiar with the company’s operations, Meta Platforms designs hardware and software to facilitate connectivity. The parent organization of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and a number of other subsidiaries, Meta Platforms grew to relevance by making social media a necessary component of nearly a third of the plant’s population. There is no doubting the impact Meta Platforms has had on every aspect of our lives, but the stock has fallen out of favor.
Most notably, Meta’s latest earnings report hinted at slower growth prospects in the early part of 2022. Per the report, Q1 revenue is expected to rest somewhere between $27 billion and $29 billion, suggesting growth may top out at 11%. The report blamed headwinds from Apple’s ad-tracking transparency initiative and a slowdown in user growth. As a result, shares of Meta are dropping fast.
Objectively, at least from the perspective granted by traditional valuation metrics, Meta Platforms appears to be inexpensive. With a PEG ratio of 0.76x, in fact, Meta Platforms is currently trading below the Interactive Media & Services industry’s median PEG of 4.05x. The disparity suggests Meta Platforms is trading at a discount, relative to its peers.
However, from a more subjective perspective, Meta Platforms looks even more discounted. Not only are shares of the social media giant trading about 46.3% lower following a less-than-impressive fourth-quarter earnings report, but the company’s recent decision to focus on the metaverse has created a unique opportunity to usher in a new generation for the internet of things. Specifically, Meta Platforms has the opportunity to become an industry leader in the development of what has been dubbed “web 3.0.” While relatively early in concept, it has been estimated that web 3.0 may coincide with an $800 billion opportunity by 2024.
If Meta Platforms can retain even a small portion of the metaverse’s market share in the future, today’s price point places the company squarely on the “best value stocks” list. With almost unlimited potential, it seems inevitable that Meta Platforms will return to its all-time high sooner rather than alter, and surpass it.
Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
In association with its own subsidiaries, Skyworks designs, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary semiconductor products to be sold globally. However, the recent chip shortage has called Skyworks’ short-term prospects into question. The inability to fulfill many of its biggest clients’ orders has forced the market to discount its stock price unfairly. That’s not to say the market isn’t right, but rather that it’s a bit short-sighted. It’s true: the chip shortage does hurt Skyworks’ immediate potential.
As a result, Skyworks is trading with a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of 1.29x, which is low enough to bring it under the industry average. The semiconductor industry trades with a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of 1.60x, making Skyworks look like a bargain. Skyworks looks even more undervalued when comparing its P/E ratio to the industry average—16.35x and 23.11x, respectively.
From a pure valuation standpoint, Skyworks looks undervalued. However, long-term secular trends within the semiconductor industry and Skyworks’ position as an industry leader suggest the stock is one of the best value stocks to buy right now. As more technology continues to rely on semiconductors, Skyworks will continue to grow at a rate investors can be comfortable with. Once the chip shortage sorts itself out and the auto industry increases orders, analysts expect revenues and earnings to increase exponentially, along with share prices.
FedEx Corporation
FedEx Corporation, or more commonly referred to simply as FedEx, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and distribution services. Founded in 1971, FedEx now has more than 29,000 vehicles and 400 service centers which all focus on one thing: providing customers with express transportation solutions, small-package deliveries, freight services, cross-border e-commerce technology and e-commerce shipping solutions.
Despite resting comfortably at the forefront of its own industry, however, FedEx looks like one of the best value stocks in today’s market. With a PEG ratio somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.68x, FedEx is trading at a discount relative to its peers. The entire air freight and logistics industry has a median PEG ratio of 1.42x, which suggests FedEx may be placed among today’s value stocks, especially when considerations are paid to forecasts and future guidance issued by the company. The company’s 13.15x PE ratio is also below the industry median of 15.13x, adding more credibility to the argument that FedEx may be one of today’s best value stocks.
Down approximately 9.8% year to date, and about 20.4% year over year, FedEx looks as if it has fallen out of investors’ good graces. However, the selloff appears to be overdone. Sure, the pandemic may have pulled a lot of online business forward and more people are likely to return to retail stores as the economy opens back up, but FedEx is an industry leader with plenty of room for growth.
In its most recent quarterly report, FedEx sales were up 10% to $23.6 billion, and net income reached as high as $1.1 billion, up 25% from the same period last year. While already impressive, the metrics could have been even better if it were not for the emergence of Omicron in the latter part of 2021.
While FedEx may run into some headwinds in 2022, the growth and adoption of e-commerce will serve as a boon for revenue growth in the coming years. That, in addition to trading at a discount to competitors like the United Parcel Service, makes FedEx look like one of the best value stocks to buy in today’s market.
Ulta Beauty, Inc.
Aptly named, Ulta Beauty is a retail powerhouse amongst the specialty retail industry. Each of the company’s 1,264 retail stores across 50 states offers shoppers a wide variety of beauty and healthcare products, from cosmetics and fragrances to make-up and salon styling tools. Ulta has established itself as the country’s premier health and beauty retailer, whether shoppers are on a budget or willing to spend more on high-end products.
However, despite sitting comfortably at the forefront of its industry, Ulta trades at an attractive valuation. When just about everything seems overvalued, Ulta boasts a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of 0.38x. The entire specialty retail industry, on the other hand, has a slightly less modest PEG ratio of 0.83x, which makes Ulta look very affordable.
In addition to its valuation, Ulta is set to benefit immensely from a reopening economy. As people go back to work and out in public more, Ulta products will see an uptick in use, and share prices will reap the rewards.
PayPal Holdings, Inc.
PayPal is the digital payments platform which pioneered the term “fintech.” Officially founded in the late nineties when it was part of eBay, PayPal officially spun out of the online retailer and IPO’d as its own public company in 2015. Since its initial public offering, PayPal has amassed hundreds of millions of active user accounts and helped each of its customers conduct online, digital payments in more than 200 markets across the globe.
Despite being entrenched at the forefront of the fintech industry however, PayPal has had a rough year. For the better part of 12 months, in fact, PayPal shares have sold off on the heels of a broader market selloff and misunderstood quarterly reports. In as little as eight months, shares have dropped 222%, going from an all-time high of $310.16 to today’s $96.57.
Shares started selling off in the broader technology rout onset by the threat of inflation and higher borrowing costs. Investors traded high-growth tech stocks like PayPal for commodities and companies that were more shelled from inflation. However, Wall Street misjudged PayPal, as the payments processor actually benefits from inflation. As customers spend more money on their platforms, PayPal can collect a larger processing fee. It became abundantly clear that PayPal was oversold in the recent exodus out of tech.
In addition to the broader market selloff, PayPal’s fourth quarter earnings report was less than encouraging for investors. Revenue growth, in particular, was lackluster, as growth appears to have been held back by dwindling ties with eBay. That said, PayPal is close to completely severing ties with its former business partner, and should be able to increase revenue growth once the tie has been cut.
Recent sentiment has dropped PayPal’s PEG ratio to 1.54x, making it inexpensive relative to its peers. Today, PayPal is trading at the same level it was at five years ago, before adding hundreds of millions of users. That, combined with the growth of PayPal’s flagship product Venmo, suggests Wall Street is underestimating the company’s future prospects. Therefore, PayPal looks like one of the best value stocks to buy right now.
How To Find Value Stocks
To find value stocks, investors must first know what to look for. It isn’t enough to look for stocks that are cheaper today than they were in the past; that’s not how value stocks work. Instead, investors need to look at the underlying fundamentals relative to the company’s prospects (along with other indicators). Not surprisingly, there are many things investors need to look into to find value stocks, which begs the question: Which metrics will help investors find value stocks?
Investors need to consider several important metrics when finding the top value stocks, but there are three which demand a little more attention than the rest of the pack:
- P/E ratio: Otherwise known as a price multiple (or earnings multiple), the P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio) is a metric used to value a company based on its current share price relative to its earnings per share. Typically the most common and most popular valuation tool, the P/E ratio, is best used to compare companies within a similar industry. To calculate the P/E ratio, divide a company’s stock price by its earnings last year. To be clear, there’s no objectively “good” P/E ratio, but 15 is usually the differentiator between value stocks and expensive stocks; those below 15 are usually considered “cheap,” while those above 15 are either fair value or expensive.
- PEG ratio: Short for “price-to-earnings-to-growth” ratio, the PEG ratio isn’t all that different from the previously discussed P/E ratio. While the PEG ratio helps prospective investors identify a value, it also adjusts to account for different growth rates. To calculate the PEG ratio, divide the P/E ratio by the company’s annualized earnings growth rate. Anything lower than 1.0 typically suggests the stock is cheap.
- Price-to-book (P/B) ratio: Many investors have grown accustomed to valuing companies based on their book value, or the company’s total net assets. However, investors may use a stocks’ respective share price as a multiple of its book value to identify cheap buying opportunities. Stocks trading for less than their book value may represent buying opportunities.
It should be noted that these metrics aren’t the only things investors should use to find value stocks but are instead used in addition to other tools. If, for nothing else, these metrics aren’t guaranteed to identify undervalued stocks, nor do they work for every company or even the growth stage the company is in. For example, some companies may not even have earnings, which would render these metrics moot. Therefore, it is better to look at these metrics as compliments to a larger valuation strategy.
Summary
The market has experienced every end of the spectrum in one year. Last year, the market experienced one of the most dramatic downturns in history when COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic. However, the market always drops faster than it rises and rises more than it drops (at least that’s what history tells us). Since the crash, the market has done nothing but improve, less a few corrections here and there. In that time, investors were introduced to some of the best value stocks the market has ever seen. In a matter of weeks, the market gave out some of the best discounts anyone could ask for. Those fortunate enough to be able to find the top value stocks are reaping the rewards. Those listed above have already paid off well, but identifying the best value stocks moving forward well hey new investors establish lucrative positions in the future.
