10 Undervalued, Unloved S&P 500 Stocks

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- With QE2 likely to buoy the stock market through year-end, investors should seek undervalued stocks, which may get the biggest boost. Here are 10 of the cheapest S&P 500 stocks based on forward earnings multiples. Below, they are ordered from cheap to cheapest. 10. SLM Corp. SLM provides education finance in the U.S. SLM swung to a third-quarter loss of $495 million, or $1.07 a share, as revenue gained 6.1% to $1.7 billion. The operating margin narrowed from 61% to 60%. SLM's stock trades at a forward earnings multiple of 8.1, a book value multiple of 1.3 and a sales multiple of 0.9, 41%, 45% and 41% discounts to consumer finance industry averages. Of analysts covering SLM, seven advise purchasing its shares and three recommend holding them. None suggest selling. A median target of $16 implies 27% upside. Bullish Scenario: FBR Capital Markets predicts that SLM's stock will advance 52% to $19. 9. Allstate ALL is a property and casualty insurer. Its third-quarter profit soared 66% to $367 million, or 68 cents a share, as revenue ascended 4.9% to $7.9 billion. The operating margin widened from 4.4% to 7.5%. Allstate has $6.7 billion of cash and $5.9 billion of debt, converting to a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.3. Its stock sells for a forward earnings multiple of 8, a book value multiple of 0.9, a sales multiple of 0.5 and a cash flow multiple of 4.4, 28%, 79%, 89% and 74% discounts to peer averages. Roughly 58% of researchers covering Allstate rate it "buy." Bullish Scenario: Stifel Financial forecasts that Allstate's stock will gain 47% to $45. 8. Cigna CI is a managed-health-care company. The company's third-quarter profit decreased 6.7% to $307 million, or $1.13 a share, as revenue climbed 17% to $5.3 billion. The operating margin contracted from 12% to 9.7%. Cigna has $2.4 billion of cash and $1.8 billion of debt. Its stock trades at a trailing earnings multiple of 8.4, a forward earnings multiple of 7.9, a book value multiple of 1.5 and a cash flow multiple of 5.7, 47%, 44%, 47% and 48% discounts to industry averages. Of researchers following Cigna, six rate its stock "buy", 12 rate it "hold" and one ranks it "sell." Bullish Scenario: JPMorgan values Cigna's stock at $46, implying a 12-month return of 25%. To read the rest, head over to TheStreet.com