Finding the best value stocks to buy in this market is a delicate balancing act.
On the one hand, you typically need to think beyond the flashiest names in the stock market—wild growth stories are rarely underappreciated by Wall Street investors. But you also need to think past “cheap stocks,” too. For one, nominal price ($5 stocks, $1 stocks, penny stocks) isn’t an indication of value. But even “cheap” by actual valuation metrics isn’t helpful, either, if you’re just buying a discounted name with little else to love.
Value investing is a religion to many folks, the same way bargain hunting at flea markets or coupon clipping is to others. There’s a pride that value investors have about analyzing the true worth of a company, and they should. It’s a skill.
Today, we’ll talk a little about the basics of value stock investing. Then I’ll highlight some of the best value stocks for 2026, across several sectors, that exemplify this approach.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. Individual securities, funds, and/or other investments appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.
What Is a Value Stock?
A value stock is a company that is perceived to be trading below some sort of intrinsic value. This is markedly different from many growth stocks, which typically trade at inflated market values based on investor interest or future growth potential.
Value stocks are often boring or steady names with established businesses, whereas a growth stock is likelier to be some flashy name with big ideas but no profits or tangible assets to speak of. Sure, flashy names are definitely interesting to watch. But they are simply not opportunities that most value stock investors would even consider, given their reliance on the promise of future growth rather than tangible value today.
So what’s the easiest way to separate a true value stock from overhyped pretenders? There’s no hard and fast rule, but there are a few metrics to watch, including:
- Price-to-earnings ratio: Stock prices should be based on something. One popular way is by normalizing the price per share by earnings per share to see how “cheap” or “expensive” the stock is vs. its peers. Price-to-earning (P/E) ratio can be backward-looking (usually the past 12 months’ worth of financials), though more useful is forward P/E, which looks ahead toward estimates for the coming year. For context, the average forward P/E of the S&P 500 lately is just a little under 22.
- Price-to-sales ratio: Since profitability sometimes isn’t the best indicator, another point of reference worth considering is the market value of a stock when compared to its revenue. Value stocks typically trade for only about 2X their sales, while high-growth stocks can sometimes trade at price-to-sales (P/S) ratios of 10 or even 20. That’s a big risk if those sales don’t come in as expected.
- Dividend yield (and payout ratio): Value stocks often have tangible and consistent profits, and they frequently share those profits with investors. Thus, many value stocks are also dividend-paying stocks. But don’t just go chasing a high yield; some dividend stocks offer unsustainable payouts that are at risk of being cut down the road. Compare the annual dividends paid to the earnings per share to make sure the company in question isn’t overstretched. Generally, paying out 70% of profits via dividends leaves enough wiggle room, but a healthy payout ratio might differ from one industry to the next.
- A company’s stock price trend: Value stocks as a group are, over the long term, less volatile than growth stocks. Just understand that the broader environment or unexpected headlines can upset even the most stolid blue chip.
Related: The 16 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2026
Does a Low Stock Price Mean a Good Stock Value?
Think about the difference between buying a hidden gem at a flea market vs. a piece of junk that’s better off in the trash. Both are “cheap,” but one is a value, while the other is more of a “value trap.”
And you’ll find the same issue when hunting for values in the stock market.
For instance, some stocks trade for very low price-to-earnings or price-to-sales ratio because Wall Street is expecting the actual numbers to come in much lower in the years ahead. If the experts are proven right, the stock isn’t a bargain at all. Rather, it has been discounted because it isn’t as valuable as it used to be.
Just as growth stocks can sometimes be valued based on their future operations instead of their current results, value stocks can also be valued based on their outlook—and if that outlook is grim, investors might not put much weight in current profits that are likely to vanish over the next year or two.
However, sometimes a bit of bad news results in a temporary short-term headwind, and value investors are often the first to swoop in for bargain purchases when that happens. Just be careful: It can be difficult to tell the difference between a stock that’s priced low for a reason, and a true bargain value investment.
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How Do Value Stocks Differ From Growth Stocks?
Small biotech companies researching a potential cancer cure or tech startups developing a potential artificial intelligence (AI) gamechanger could become billion-dollar giants … or they might disappear overnight if their plans don’t pan out.
These are fundamentally “growth stocks” that are dependent on revenue and earnings growth that will justify their share price. Just think about a company like Tesla (TSLA) that debuted on Wall Street in 2010 even though it was unprofitable and had only manufactured less than 2,000 cars before going public and had a mere 4,000 additional pre-orders on the books. It was a risky bet to be sure, but now Tesla is the envy of the entire EV industry and cranks out millions of cars—and has made early investors a bundle along the way.
Value stocks can make a bundle for investors, too, but in a very different way. They’re more likely to be companies such as traditional automakers with deep pockets and tons of hard assets like production facilities. Sure, it might be impossible for an automaker like Toyota (TM) to double, considering it is already the world’s No. 1 automaker with about $300 billion in revenue and nearly 11 million vehicles sold annually. But growth isn’t the appeal here … rather, the underlying value and established operations of Volkswagen is the draw.
Lastly, value stocks and growth stocks don’t always have to be opposites. From time to time, Wall Street will underestimate a high-growth firm, and as a result, you’ll have a growth stock trading at value prices.
The Best Value Stocks to Buy Now
Today, I’ll look at some of the best value stocks for 2026 as rated by consensus analyst ratings from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The consensus rating is the average of all known analyst ratings of the stock, boiled down to a numerical system where …
1-1.5 = Strong Buy
1.5-2.5 = Buy
2.5-3.5 = Hold
3.5-4.5 = Sell
4.5-5 = Strong Sell
In short: The lower the number, the better the overall consensus view on the stock. All stocks here are rated at least 2.0 or below, meaning at worst they’re solidly in the Buy camp, though most of the picks are considered Strong Buys as we enter 2026. And the stocks are listed in reverse order of their consensus rating (from worst to best).
All stocks also have forward P/Es that are below both the S&P 500 and their sectors, as well as PEGs below 1.0.
As iconic investor Warren Buffett once wrote, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” The following seven stocks are good examples of value stocks with real weight.
Related: The 13 Best Mutual Funds You Can Buy
Best Value Stock #7: Bank of America
- Sector: Financials
- Market capitalization: $316.3 billion
- Dividend yield: 2.2%
- Forward P/E: 11.5
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.58 (Buy)
Bank of America (BAC) is one of the world’s largest banks, serving roughly 69 million Americans through 3,800 branches and 15,000 ATMs across 39 states. However, BofA is much, much more than its consumer business—it also provides financial products and services for small and midsized businesses, large corporations, institutional investors, and even governments. Its offerings range from checking and savings accounts to commercial loans, trade finance, treasury management, and securities clearing.
BofA has been caught up in financials’ broad slump in 2026, which has put the stock further into value territory. BAC’s forward P/E of less than 12 is much cheaper than the broader market, and decently inexpensive compared to the financial sector (15). A PEG of 0.9 shows that it’s only slightly undervalued in relation to its projected growth, but it looks better relative to the S&P 500, which trades at a PEG of 1.2 right now.
Part of banks’ pain in 2026 has come from worries about artificial intelligence taking over their business models. But Wall Street remains plenty bullish on the space, and on BAC in particular.
“We do not see AI tools as an existential threat, rather we see them as a tool to enable improving profitability,” say Morgan Stanley analysts. “We expect operational efficiency to improve across our coverages as banks utilize AI tools to ramp throughput. Across our large cap banks, we expect AI tools will help drive a productivity gains of 20-50% across a wide range of functions including financial advisors, wholesale banking and markets teams and operational staff.”
As for BofA specifically? Morgan Stanley’s Betsy L. Graseck rates BofA at Overweight (equivalent of Buy) and calls the stock her “top pick” in 2026, adding that “BAC’s investments in AI are already delivering efficiencies.” She’s one of 22 Buy-equivalent calls on the stock, which compares well to just four Holds and zero Sells.
“Investor Day goals outlined for the company at large over the medium term included deposit growth of 4%, loan growth of 5%, operating leverage of 200-300 basis points leading to an efficiency ratio of 55%-59%, EPS growth of at least 12%, and a return on tangible common equity of 15% in the near term and 16%-18% in the medium term,” adds Argus Research analyst Stephen Biggar, who also rates the stock at Buy. “We believe the targets are achievable given the company’s breadth of products and investment capabilities, and are competitive enough to push BAC into the upper range on these metrics in the peer group.”
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Best Value Stock #6: CVS Health
- Sector: Health care
- Market capitalization: $102.8 billion
- Dividend yield: 3.3%
- Forward P/E: 11.4
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.57 (Buy)
CVS Health (CVS) is positioned in numerous businesses throughout the health care sector. It has an enormous retail pharmacy footprint of more than 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, which include both standalone buildings and its store-within-store presence across numerous Target (TGT) locations. But CVS also has more than 1,000 “Minute Clinics” (essentially doctor’s offices right within the store), the Caremark pharmacy benefits management (PBM) business, as well as its Aetna arm courtesy of a $69 billion deal to lock up the health insurer back in 2018.
The company’s shares surged 80% in 2025. That sounds impressive, but it deserves some context That rebound effectively put the stock back to where it was trading at the beginning of a disastrous 2024 for CVS. And that’s a microcosm of its volatile but ultimately unproductive movement of the past decade; indeed, anyone holding the stock over the past 10 years is still sitting on a mere 10% gain even with dividends included. The S&P 500 has returned 310%.
But Wall Street—which is looking forward, not backward—is overwhelmingly optimistic about the stock. Currently, 23 pros call it a Buy, while only five call it a Hold and no one believes it’s a Sell.
“We remain bullish on the unique, diversified and interconnected assets, number of growth/margin improvement opportunities, and expect CVS to capture an increasing percentage of health care spend dollars,” says Truist Managing Director David S. MacDonald, who calls the stock a Buy and his “preferred” pick in diversified managed care.
Despite last year’s roaring comeback for CVS shares, as well as additional positive ground in 2026, the stock still trades at less than 12 times 2027 earnings estimates. Its PEG is also in bargain territory at 0.85.
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Best Value Stock #5: Cigna
- Sector: Health care
- Market capitalization: $74.6 billion
- Dividend yield: 2.2%
- Forward P/E: 9.9
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.56 (Buy)
Another health care name, Cigna Group (CI) is perhaps best known for the Cigna brand, which is one of America’s largest health insurers, offering health, dental, and other plans. But Cigna actually makes up less than half of Cigna Group’s revenues—60% come from its Evernorth Health Services unit, which includes its Express Scripts pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management businesses, Accredo specialty pharmacy, MDLive telehealth, and more.
“In our view, Cigna remains one of the more attractive stocks in our space due to its diversified and stable earnings flow, solid growth avenues, and attractive valuations,” says Oppenheimer, which rates shares at Outperform. “The company’s service-based platform leaves minimal exposure to risk-products that are igniting volatility across the managed care space. Overall, we continue to favor Cigna due to its attractive portfolio and solid growth prospects within the volatile managed care space.”
Oppenheimer is among 21 Buy-equivalent calls on the stock, which compares nicely to just four Holds and no Sells. Also among the bulls is BofA Global Research analyst Kevin Fischbeck, who believes the company’s pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) business is misunderstood.
“The market appears to be concerned about a race to the bottom on PBM margins,” he says. “We haven’t seen any evidence of margin compression outside of the largest accounts and we believe that the move to the new model is misunderstood and CI screens cheap even assuming the implementation costs don’t go away over time despite what we see as an improved PBM business (extended contracts, derisked legislatively, PBM a smaller part of earnings).”
Cigna trades at a very reasonable single-digit forward P/E of just 10; when accounting for growth, its PEG of 0.88 also signals that investors don’t yet fully appreciate the stock.
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Best Value Stock #4: Citizens Financial Group
- Sector: Financials
- Market capitalization: $25.6 billion
- Dividend yield: 3.0%
- Forward P/E: 11.9
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.55 (Buy)
Citizens Financial Group (CFG) is the holding company behind Citizens Bank, a large regional bank with roughly 1,000 branches serving 14 East Coast and Midwest states as well as Washington, D.C. It provides a wide variety of consumer and commercial banking services, including deposits, mortgages, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, foreign exchange, corporate finance, and more.
One noteworthy area of growth for CFG is Citizens Private Bank, which offers personal banking, wealth management, and other services to people with at least $10 million in net worth and at least $5 million in liquid assets. Since launching near the end of 2023, Private Bank has accumulated $14.5 billion in deposits, $7.2 billion in loans, and $10 billion in client assets.
“Positive policies around deregulation, looser capital requirements, and more stress test transparency stand to benefit CFG,” says Argus Research analyst Kevin Heal, who rates Citizens’ shares at Buy. “Management has remained confident that Private Bank will deliver 20% to 25% return on equity for FY26.”
“CFG has among the strongest [return on tangible common equity] improvement stories among large regional banks, supported by net interest income/net interest margin improvement, Private Bank buildout, balance sheet optimization efforts, and a capital markets recovery,” add Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts, who have the stock at Outperform. “Overall, we continue to believe CFG has among the most attractive risk/reward setups for super regional banks.”
All told, CFG has a broad bull camp of 18 Buys versus two Holds and no Sells. Part of the appeal is a cheap forward P/E of around 12 that compares well to the financial sector’s 15, as well as a very low PEG of just 0.5 currently.
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Best Value Stock #3: Bunge
- Sector: Consumer staples
- Market capitalization: $22.7 billion
- Dividend yield: 2.3%
- Forward P/E: 14.8
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.50 (Strong Buy)
Bunge Global (BG) is a leading agribusiness and food company, operating across the entire agricultural supply chain through its many subsidiaries. All told, its operations span roughly 23,000 employees across more than 300 facilities in over 40 countries.
The U.S.-headquartered but Switzerland-incorporated firm is a leading global oilseed processor and producer of vegetable oils and protein meals. It sources, processes, and distributes grains such as soybeans, wheat, and corn. It produces agricultural products such as fertilizers and sugars. And that’s just some of what this ag giant does.
Bunge has been a “patience stock” for years thanks to lower margins on crush (the process that produces soybean oil and protein meal), as well as delays to its proposed mega-acquisition of Canadian grain handling business Viterra. However, investors who have had patience are finally seeing the payoff, with the stock up more than 50% over the past six months amid optimism over renewable volume obligation (RVO) and the closing of its Viterra deal.
“We estimate post-RVO 2H26 guidance still implies an ~$9.50 EPS run-rate. This supports our view BG can realize $10+ EPS run-rate post-RVO from which it can grow,” BMO Capital Markets Analyst Andrew Strelzik, who rates the stock at Outperform, said after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. He’s one of nine analysts with a Buy-equivalent rating on Bunge, versus one Hold and no Sells.
From a valuation perspective, Bunge’s roughly 15 forward P/E compares well to a frothy consumer staples sector that trades at nearly 24 times earnings. Its PEG of 0.76 also indicates the stock isn’t fully appreciated. And new money would enjoy an above-average 2%-plus in yield at current prices.
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Best Value Stock #2: Smurfit Westrock
- Sector: Consumer discretionary
- Market capitalization: $23.7 billion
- Dividend yield: 3.9%
- Forward P/E: 13.8
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.33 (Strong Buy)
One of the best value stocks to buy in 2026 also happens to be on our list of the best growth stocks right now.
Smurfit Westrock (SW)—the product of a 2024 merger of Ireland’s Smurfit Kappa and America’s Westrock—is a global manufacturer of consumer packaging, corrugated packaging, and a variety of paper products. And by virtue of that merger, the combined entity is now one of the largest packaging providers in the world, with operations in 40 countries.
Consider Smurfit Westrock an interesting beneficiary of technological trends—specifically, the continued rise of e-commerce. As people increasingly move away from buying in brick-and-mortar stores and toward online shopping … well, those products have to get shipped in something, and that’s precisely where Smurfit comes in.
“[We estimate] that the industry will remain strong, and we see modest expansion at a compound annual growth rate of 3%-4% through 2028,” writes Argus Research analyst Alexandra Yates, who rates SW shares at Buy. “We favor companies with pulp, paperboard packaging, and corrugated product lines, and expect this segment to show continued long-term growth through 2030.”
Of course, Smurfit is expected to grow at a much healthier clip, with analyst expectations for long-term annual earnings growth of more than 30%. But it also has bargain-priced value metrics; its forward P/E of around 14 is about half the consumer discretionary sector’s forward P/E (27), and it’s still cheap compared to its high expected growth based on a PEG of just 0.26. And that’s despite a wild 20%-plus surge in SW stock so far in 2026.
“We see long-term upside potential and expect earnings growth congruent with growth in e-commerce and growth in demand for sustainable paper and packaging goods,” Yates adds. “We think that current valuation multiples are attractive given the company’s recovering earnings outlook through FY26.”
SW has picked up quite a few covering analysts of late, and they’re unanimously bullish, with all 15 calling the stock a Buy. Truist’s Michael Roxland is also among those Buys, citing numerous drivers, including an “improving containerboard cycle, which we believe is entering a ‘golden age’ driven by balanced supply and demand.”
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Best Value Stock #1: Alaska Air Group
- Sector: Industrials
- Market capitalization: $5.7 billion
- Dividend yield: N/A
- Forward P/E: 9.4
- Consensus analyst rating: 1.27 (Strong Buy)
The top value stock on this list comes from one of the harshest industries to invest in: airline stocks.
Alaska Air Group (ALK) operates across three segments: Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and a regional unit that includes its subsidiary Horizon Air. It serves customers not just in the U.S., but also parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, and the Bahamas.
Airlines in general are strongly tethered to consumer demand and economic strength, both of which are extremely difficult to handicap under the current policy environment. But the airline industry in general should benefit from (among other things) low supply growth as well as easy comparisons to 2025, when extreme macroeconomic volatility rocked the industry. And if the economy does fare better, and especially if the current administration does go through with any of its proposed stimulus measures, those could be additional tailwinds for airlines.
BofA Global Research analysts Andrew Didora and John Gellene like several airlines heading into 2026, including Alaska Air.
“In 2026, we expect ALK to benefit more meaningfully from Hawaiian integration synergies across both unit revenues and costs,” they ay about ALK, which they say has the most upside in their group of recommendations. “We also anticipate ALK to continue to benefit from strong trends in premium revenues and corporate travel, supporting a further improvement in [revenue] growth.”
Alaska shares enjoy similar positive sentiment across every analyst who covers them; the stock currently has 15 Buys against no Holds and no Sells. In addition to the positive traits mentioned above, ALK also trades at a cheap 9 times earnings estimates and a paper-thin PEG of 0.15.
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Value Stocks: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should I buy value stocks or a value exchange-traded fund?
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide a diversified way to play the stock market in one single holding. And perhaps unsurprisingly, there are a host of ETFs that seek to provide groups of value stocks in one place.
Diversification is definitely something to consider, but also keep in mind that it’s difficult to apply the same screening methodology on an ETF that you do on individual stocks. So if you care about popping the hood and looking around for yourself, investing in individual stocks might be preferable—even if it’s a bit more work.
How much of the stock market is made up of value stocks?
It’s hard to say for certain. For example, there are many value-oriented ETFs out there, and some have hundreds more holdings than their peers. But generally speaking, Wall Street can be thought of in thirds—one-third true “growth” stocks, one-third true “value” stocks, and another third that is in the blended area between the two.
What kind of brokers handle value stocks?
The good news is, virtually any traditional broker is going to allow you to buy value stocks. As long as equities are on the table–and that’s the case with virtually all online brokers—you’ll be able to buy any style of stock: growth, value, dividend, you name it.
You can check out our favorite online brokers for beginners for a full list of options, but here’s one of our favorites:
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