We recently published a list of 10 Lowest PE Ratio Stocks in S&P 500. In this article, we are going to take a look at where United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) stands against other most undervalued stocks.
Big tech stocks just suffered a massive hit, with the Magnificent Seven shedding a combined $1.8 trillion in market value over two brutal trading days at the beginning of April 2025. The iPhone-maker was hit the hardest, dropping more than $533 billion, partly due to new tariffs targeting its overseas production. Elon Musk’s EV giant fell over 10% on April 4, and Wall Street’s semiconductor darling lost nearly $400 billion. Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce powerhouse also saw its worst losing streak since 2008. The selloff came after Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs sparked fears of a global trade war and potential recession. It did not just impact the mega-caps; the pain spread across the tech sector, which saw steep declines in stock prices. Even semiconductor stocks, although not yet directly impacted by tariffs, are being dragged down by growing uncertainty.
Amidst this volatile market landscape, Veteran investor Bill Nygren noted that the chaos caused by Trump’s steep tariffs has opened up a rare window for long-term investors to scoop up undervalued stocks. While he admits the uncertainty is not great for investors and could lead to inflation and slower growth, he sees opportunity in the selloff. Nygren pointed out that many quality companies, including major airlines, banks, and media firms, are now trading at dirt-cheap valuations. Some of them are trading under 7 or 8 times earnings because of overly negative investor sentiment. Nygren believes that if you hold these types of stocks long enough, there is a good chance they will deliver solid returns.
Hedge fund billionaire Warren Buffett also endorses Bill Nygren’s approach. Buffett made his $165 billion fortune by practicing value investing. He is known for buying stocks that are undervalued compared to their true worth and holding onto them for the long run. His approach focuses on companies with robust fundamentals, solid management, and potential for future growth, rather than chasing after risky or short-term trends. Value investing involves looking for stocks with low price-to-earnings ratios, and it often requires investors to go against the market’s emotions and short-term movements.
A bird’s eye view of a large commercial jetliner taking off from an airport runway.
Our Methodology
For this article, we used the Finviz screener and filtered out S&P stocks. Then, we applied a filter to arrange these stocks in ascending order of P/E ratios. We picked the 10 stocks with the lowest P/E ratios to compile this list. We have also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around the holdings as per Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database, ranking the list from least to most hedge fund holders.
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).
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL)
P/E Ratio as of April 29: 6.26
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) provides air travel for both passengers and cargo across the US, Canada, Latin America, and beyond. It ranks 1st on our list of stocks with a low PE ratio. On April 22, BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating on UAL and a $90 price target. BofA forecasts that United will earn $10.14 per share in 2025, slightly above Wall Street’s $10.10 estimate. The airline’s outlook includes scenarios for stable demand and a potential recession. Despite uncertainty, BofA remains positive, citing United’s strong revenue streams, loyalty program, and free cash flow.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) reported a record $13.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2025. The company saw growth in premium cabin, business, and Basic Economy fares, and international travel performed well too. The airline had an operating cash flow of $3.7 billion, and free cash flow came in at $2.3 billion. United ended the quarter with $18.3 billion in available liquidity and $27.7 billion in debt, maintaining a net leverage ratio of 2x. Year-to-date, the company has repurchased about $451 million worth of shares.
According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 86 hedge funds were long United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), compared to 54 funds in the previous quarter.
Overall, UAL ranks 1st among the lowest PE ratio stocks in the S&P. While we acknowledge the potential of UAL 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. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UAL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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