When you think of big financial companies, you might think of many listed in The Motley Fool's Largest Financial Companies by Market Cap research -- companies such as Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, with respective market values of $1 trillion and $800 billion. But some smaller businesses deserve attention, too.
Image source: Getty Images.
Consider, for example, Fiserv (FISV 4.15%), with a recent market value near $34 billion. It may not be on many people's radar because of lackluster or downright poor returns in recent years. Check it out:
|
Time Period |
Average Annual Return |
|---|---|
|
Past 1 year |
(73.76%) |
|
Past 3 years |
(19.16%) |
|
Past 5 years |
(11.77%) |
|
Past 10 years |
2.43% |
|
Past 15 years |
9.69% |
Data source: Data from Morningstar.com as of March 2, 2026.
Ouch, right? But these kinds of stocks often represent great values -- unless they're value traps, of course. I suspect Fiserv is more of a value than a trap.
Meet Fiserv
If you're not familiar with it, Fiserv is a fintech (financial technology) company. It's a component of the S&P 500 index and the Fortune 500, and it describes itself, "As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients ... in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and Clover®, the world's smartest point-of-sale system and business management platform."
NASDAQ: FISV
Key Data Points
It boasts more than:
- 6 million merchant locations globally.
- 1.6 billion issuing accounts.
- 25,000 financial transactions per second, at peak.
- 10,000 financial institution clients.
Should you invest in Fiserv?
A key reason to take a closer look at Fiserv is its now-low valuation. Its recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.5 is well below its five-year average of 15.5, and its recent price-to-sales ratio of 1.6 is well below the five-year average of 4.1.
But a low price isn't enough. Is the company growing? Will it keep growing? Well, its recent lackluster stock performance is largely due to a disappointing third quarter. But its fourth quarter featured:
- GAAP revenue growth of 1% year over year -- and 4% for the full fiscal year 2025.
- GAAP earnings per share fell 8% year over year for the quarter but gained 4% for the full year.
- For 2026, management is expecting organic revenue growth between 1% and 3%.
Those aren't amazing numbers, but they do show growth -- and stability. It has a new CEO who plans to incorporate more artificial intelligence into its technology, and it has introduced a new digital currency settlement platform called INDX. Meanwhile, an activist investor has taken an interest in the company, which could make matters more interesting.
Fiserv is a major financial business that is likely to keep growing, and a lot of pessimism is already baked into its stock price. If you take a closer look at Fiserv and like what you see, this could be a great long-term investing opportunity. If you're not convinced, know that there are plenty of other compelling growth stocks to consider.
