The Sleeper Financial Stock That Could Surge Before Wall Street Notices

When you think of big financial companies, you might think of many listed in The Motley Fool's Largest Financial Companies by Market Cap research -- companies such as Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, with respective market values of $1 trillion and $800 billion. But some smaller businesses deserve attention, too.

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Consider, for example, Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), with a recent market value near $34 billion. It may not be on many people's radar because of lackluster or downright poor returns in recent years. Check it out:

Data source: Data from Morningstar.com as of March 2, 2026.

Ouch, right? But these kinds of stocks often represent great values -- unless they're value traps, of course. I suspect Fiserv is more of a value than a trap.

Meet Fiserv

If you're not familiar with it, Fiserv is a fintech (financial technology) company. It's a component of the S&P 500 index and the Fortune 500, and it describes itself, "As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients ... in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and Clover^®, the world's smartest point-of-sale system and business management platform."

It boasts more than:

• 6 million merchant locations globally.
• 1.6 billion issuing accounts.
• 25,000 financial transactions per second, at peak.
• 10,000 financial institution clients.

Should you invest in Fiserv?

A key reason to take a closer look at Fiserv is its now-low valuation. Its recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.5 is well below its five-year average of 15.5, and its recent price-to-sales ratio of 1.6 is well below the five-year average of 4.1.

But a low price isn't enough. Is the company growing? Will it keep growing? Well, its recent lackluster stock performance is largely due to a disappointing third quarter. But its fourth quarter featured:

• GAAP revenue growth of 1% year over year -- and 4% for the full fiscal year 2025.
• GAAP earnings per share fell 8% year over year for the quarter but gained 4% for the full year.
• For 2026, management is expecting organic revenue growth between 1% and 3%.

Those aren't amazing numbers, but they do show growth -- and stability. It has a new CEO who plans to incorporate more artificial intelligence into its technology, and it has introduced a new digital currency settlement platform called INDX. Meanwhile, an activist investor has taken an interest in the company, which could make matters more interesting.

Fiserv is a major financial business that is likely to keep growing, and a lot of pessimism is already baked into its stock price. If you take a closer look at Fiserv and like what you see, this could be a great long-term investing opportunity. If you're not convinced, know that there are plenty of other compelling growth stocks to consider.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Selena Maranjian has positions in Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.