The AI trade is carrying on strong as ever, showing no signs of slowing down. For the last three years, a handful of stocks have driven the S&P 500 forward, with almost all of them gaining on the back of AI progress. Consequently, many stocks are facing a severe lack of interest and even outflows, resulting in them losing value.
When Jonathan Krinsky, the Chief Market Technician at BTIG, appeared on CNBC to discuss the AI trade, he mentioned exactly the above and backed it with numbers.
The S&P 500 hit a 52-week high on Friday… and 8% of the actual S&P names are at their 52-week low and that ties the all-time record of late 1999. It’s not just that names aren’t participating at the moment, they’re actually moving lower at this point.
There is clearly a disconnect in the market at the moment, and quite often, the value lies in the areas that are being ignored. One way to unearth this value is to look at the most ignored or worst-performing stocks and see whether professionals are still backing them. If they are, chances are these are strong businesses that will eventually continue their long-term trend. This is why we decided to compile our list of the 10 best 52-week low stocks to buy according to hedge funds.
Our Methodology
To come up with our list of 10 best 52-week low stocks to buy according to hedge funds, we only considered companies that had a market cap of at least $2 billion. These companies are trading between 0% and 5% of their 52-week lows. We also considered how many hedge funds held these companies in their portfolios and ranked them in ascending order of the number of funds holding them.
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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
Note: All share price data in the article is as per market close on May 13.
10. Rollins Inc. (NYSE:ROL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57
Rollins Inc. (NYSE:ROL) reports its Q1 2026 earnings report on April 23. The company reported revenue of $906.42 million, comfortably beating the Wall Street consensus of $894.58 million. The earnings per share came in at $0.24, which met analyst expectations. Overall performance in Q1 was healthy. Moreover, residential services saw the greatest improvement, but commercial, termite, and other services also did well.
On April 27, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Rollins Inc. (NYSE:ROL) to Buy from a previous rating of Neutral. The firm also raised its target price from $51.90 to $66. With the stock price dropping, investors believe the company’s slow growth over the past two quarters will continue for longer, but the firm thinks otherwise. The company’s steady stream of long-term contracts underpins its fiscal 2026 organic growth, the analyst tells investors in a research note. In the short term, however, the stock has already lost a quarter of its value over the last three months.
Rollins Inc. (NYSE:ROL) is an international service company that provides pest and termite control services to both residential and commercial customers. The company is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and was founded in 1948 by John W. Rollins Jr. and O. Wayne Rollins Sr.
9. Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62
On May 5, RBC Capital analyst Ashish Sabadra reaffirmed a Buy rating on Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) and assigned a price target of $337 on the stock. This reflects an upside of 35% from current levels. This positive sentiment followed the company’s earnings report on April 28.
On April 28, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) posted its first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings. The company reported a revenue of $4.07 billion for Q1 2026, beating the Wall Street consensus of $4.03 billion. The adjusted Earnings per share came in at $1.7, which met analysts’ estimates.
Going forward, the company expects earnings per share of $2.02 to $2.12 in the second quarter. The growth is expected to strengthen in Q3 and Q4. For the full year 2026, commodity costs are expected to increase in the high single digits. This will impact second-quarter earnings per share growth by a few points.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and critical resources. Its Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, along with cleaning and sanitizing solutions, primarily for large industrial customers.
