Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Cheap Stock Picks Include Apple Inc. (AAPL)

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) was another of Fisher’s cheap stock picks as the filing disclosed ownership of over 12 million shares. The bank trades at 11 times earnings, whether we consider its trailing results or consensus forecasts for 2014, though the sell-side is quite bullish over a longer time frame with HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC)’s five-year PEG ratio being 0.6. In fact, the bank’s net income did more than double in its most recent quarter compared to the same period in the previous year, though of course that growth rate will slow going forward.

According to the 13F, the fund slightly increased its holdings of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) during the quarter, closing March with just under 13 million shares in its portfolio. The rise in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s stock price- it is up 60% in the last year- has pulled its market cap essentially even with the book value of the bank’s equity, though the stock is still quite cheap in earnings terms at a trailing P/E multiple of 10. With net income also up here, and with the 2.8% dividend yield similar to Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC)’s, we think that both banks are worthy of consideration by value investors.

In fact, all three of Fisher’s financial picks look at least somewhat interesting- HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) will not able to grow its earnings as quickly in the future as it has, but the valuation is low enough that it does not need to do much in order to prove undervalued. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also could be interesting if it makes better use of its cash hoard or the decline in earnings slows enough to “beat expectations” of a significant decline.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.