Buying stocks for less than they are truly worth is a great way to build tremendous wealth in the stock market. Value investing is a proven strategy used by legendary investors, including Warren Buffett, to build massive fortunes.
You, too, could use value stocks to become rich. To help you in this regard, here are three of the biggest bargains available in the market today.
These value stocks are particularly good deals. Image source: Getty Images.
Verizon
Even during a pandemic, people are unlikely to cancel their mobile phone and internet subscriptions. This helps to make Verizon (VZ 0.32%) a relatively low-risk investment during the current COVID-19 crisis.
Verizon's network has long provided vital services to its more than 150 million customers, but the coronavirus pandemic is making them even more valuable. The telecom giant has experienced a massive surge in its network usage, as millions of people make and send more mobile phone calls and text messages while working at home, due to social distancing measures. Verizon has also seen its internet traffic spike as much as 20% in recent weeks.
Moreover, with interest rates falling sharply during the crisis, Verizon now has the opportunity to refinance some of its debt on more attractive terms. Lower interest payments should help to improve its already impressive cash flow production. And that, in turn, should allow Verizon -- whose stock currently yields a hefty 4.3% -- to reward its investors with even higher dividends.
Best of all, Verizon's shares are trading a substantial discount to the overall market. Its stock can currently be had for about 12.2 times trailing earnings and 11.8 times analysts' estimates for 2020, compared to the more than 21 times trailing earnings and nearly 19 times forward estimates for the S&P 500. Verizon may be a slow and steady grower, but it's exactly the type of defensive, high-yield, and value-priced stock that can help you preserve and grow your wealth during these challenging economic times.
Target
Like other major grocers, Target (TGT +1.32%) is benefiting from consumers' need to stock up on food and other household essentials during the coronavirus pandemic. But Target is far more than just a traditional retailer, and it's actually its booming e-commerce operations that make it such an attractive investment today.
With so many people stuck at home due to government-ordered social distancing measures, Target's online retail offerings are in high demand. Management made the wise decision to invest aggressively in the company's omnichannel capabilities in recent years. By better aligning its in-store and e-commerce sales channels, Target cut costs and improved its customer experience. It also acquired Shipt, and the same-day delivery platform has further strengthened Target's online retail value proposition, which is no doubt helping to drive sales higher during the current pandemic.
Better still, Target's stock can currently be had for a bargain price. Shares trade for approximately 17 times trailing earnings and only about 16 times analysts' earnings estimates for fiscal 2021. The stock also pays a dividend, which currently yields a solid 2.5%.
Apple
At first glance, Apple (AAPL 0.27%) may not appear to be much of a bargain, with its stock trading essentially in line with the S&P 500 at about 22 times trailing earnings. However, when we factor in the more than $200 billion in cash and investments on its balance sheet, the technology titan's price-to-earnings ratio falls to about 18. And on a forward basis, Apple's cash-adjusted P/E multiple declines to an even more attractive 16, based on analysts' estimates for fiscal 2021. That's a bargain price for a company that Buffett has called "probably the best business I know in the world."
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.07%)(BRK.B 0.32%) owns more than $70 billion worth of Apple's shares, making it the mega-conglomerate's largest public stock holding by far. Buffett appreciates the central part the iPhone plays in the lives of hundreds of millions of people. He also values Apple's incredible balance sheet strength and its proclivity to use its bountiful cash flow production to buy back its own shares and pay a rapidly growing dividend. If you do as well, you may want to consider buying shares today.
