We recently compiled a list of the 11 Best Undervalued Stocks to Invest in Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) stands against the other undervalued stocks.

How Will Tariffs Affect the Market?

On March 5th, BBC reported that the US stock market had fallen after the tariffs sparked trade war fear. The recent imposition of tariffs by President Donald Trump on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China has sparked significant concerns about a potential trade war. The United States has imposed a 25% tariff on most imports from these countries, with Canadian energy products facing a 10% tariff. On the other hand, tariffs on Chinese imports have been increased from 10% to 20%. As a result, Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau announced immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of US goods, with plans for additional tariffs on $125 billion in goods over the next three weeks. Moreover, China imposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 15% on various US agricultural imports, such as chicken, pork, and soybeans. The tariffs have raised fears of inflation and a broader trade conflict, leading to a decline in US and global stock markets. As a result, the S&P 500 experienced a significant drop, and European markets also closed lower.

Today, Richard Fisher, former Dallas Fed president, appeared on a CNBC interview to talk about the recent tariffs and their impact on the market. Fisher stated that a tariff is a cost factor that goes into producing and distributing a product, making it a form of tax. Business operators of all sizes have to figure out a way to protect their margins against the impact. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve has to gauge the amount of revenue it would generate from these tariffs considering it is slowing down the economy and can cause inflation as the companies will have to raise prices to maintain their margins. Moreover, Richard Fisher noted that such tariffs take a long to be digested, as businesses don’t change something overnight. The only way for companies to maintain their margins without increasing prices is by increasing productivity, which again does not happen overnight and takes time.

While talking about how the Fed might react to the tariffs, Fisher mentioned that it is a little too early to guess. The Fed is bringing inflation down and we are getting closer to the 2% target, however, at the same time tariff increases the cost of doing business, which might slow down the economy and tickle up inflation. To conclude Fisher noted that tariffs won’t be digested quickly and will take time.

Our Methodology

For this article, we used the Finviz stock screener, Yahoo Finance, and Seeking Alpha. Using the screener we aggregated a list of stocks trading below the forward P/E of 15 and earnings growth expectations this year. Next, we cross-checked the Forward P/E from Seeking Alpha and Earnings growth from Yahoo Finance. Lastly, after sorting our list by market capitalization, we ranked the stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge funds holding each stock, sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 database of hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Forward P/E Ratio: 9.22

Earnings Growth This Year: 1.87% 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is an international leader in telecommunications. Its services range from consumer services, where the company provides wireless and wireline communications services, to Technology and Streaming, where it provides streaming services and supports the Internet of Things, which involves connecting various devices to the Internet.

The company recently gained the spotlight due to its strategic partnership with Accenture which is aimed at enhancing cybersecurity services to help organizations across various industries tackle emerging threats. The partnership focuses on developing advanced cybersecurity solutions to address growing threats such as data breaches, phishing attacks, and social engineering. Moreover, on March 2, Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi raised the firm’s target on the stock from $47.5 to $48, while keeping a Buy rating on the stock.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) had a strong fiscal 2024, with strong financial results, including 3.1% wireless service revenue growth and 2.1% adjusted EBITDA growth. It also added 2.5 million postpaid mobility and broadband subscribers, expanding margins and ending the year with over $20 billion in wireless service revenue. Looking ahead, management expects significant wireless service revenue growth, focusing on service revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. It is one of the best-undervalued stocks to invest in now.

Third Point Management stated the following regarding Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“While some economic activity has been showing signs of slowing, the defensive composition of the current high yield market with a high mix of higher quality credit and short duration has let the rates tailwind overwhelm such concerns. The lowest quality sectors of the market have performed best, fueled by both soft/no landing expectations, as well as two positive events in the beleaguered telecom space. Telecom/cable have been poor performers year to date due to overhang from the growth of FWA (aka “wireless cable”) and increased fiber building, however the sector re-rated materially on two deals. Second, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) announced a deal to acquire Frontier Communications (FYBR), a transaction which the fund benefited from by virtue of its investment in FYBR debt. This transaction, aimed at increasing’s VZ fiber footprint, has led to broad revaluation of fiber retail networks that we think is appropriate. While we continue to expect to see FWA rapidly erode non-upgraded cable and especially copper’s share of the low-end broadband market, the VZ deal underscores the value of the higher end footprint.”

Overall VZ ranks 8th on our list of the best undervalued stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of VZ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VZ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.