11 Best Undervalued UK Stocks to Buy Right Now

8. Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

Forward P/E Ratio: 6.76

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) is a financial services company based in London, United Kingdom. It operates as a diversified bank that provides a range of services including personal and retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management, credit cards, and more. The bank has a presence in more than 50 countries around the globe.

On April 17, Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) announced entering into a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to transform the company’s payment acceptance business. Under this partnership, the company will invest around £400 million within the first three years to accelerate its business transformation.

In addition, Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has already been working on executing its three-year strategic plan, which resulted in a Return on Tangible Equity of 10.5% for the year, which exceeded the guidance of 10%. Moreover, the profitability before tax also improved to £8.1 billion, after improving by 24%.

On April 7, J.P. Morgan analyst Kian Abouhossein maintained a Buy rating on the stock. Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) is one of the best undervalued UK stocks to buy right now.

Ariel Global Fund stated the following regarding Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“We bought global bank and financial services provider, Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS). We expect shares to benefit from a recovery in global capital markets and net interest income (NII) growth driven by macroeconomic hedging and asset flows. The bank is also planning to expand its investment banking advisory business. Moreover, its U.S. credit card business presents opportunities for either a potential sale or a quicker earnings recovery. Taken together, we see a reasonable path for Barclays to pursue its return targets, which include the distribution of £3 billion and £10 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases between 2024 and 2026 and achieving a return on tangible common equity of about 12%.”