Wall Street analysts see opportunity this year in these underappreciated stocks
The market volatility may be causing some investor uncertainty but there's still plenty of value to be found according to Wall Street analysts who named some of their top underappreciated stocks this week. CNBC PRO combed through Wall Street research to find some of the best ideas amid the market frenzy. They include: CNX Resources , Aflac , Palo Alto Networks , Ryder Systems , Tandem Diabetes Care and Albertsons . Palo Alto Networks The cybersecurity company was upgraded to outperform from neutral this week by investment firm Credit Suisse. The firm believes the stock is inexpensive compared to peers in its sector and poised to break out as the coronavirus subsides, according to analyst Brad Zelnick. "We see an opportunity in PANW which has lagged the group and should benefit both in the near and long term," he wrote. Zelnick also said Palo Alto should benefit from the Biden administration's commitment to cyber defense. "Ultimately, we see PANW as well positioned to leverage its strong brand, large installed base, and relatively broad next gen security portfolio to capture incremental wallet share," he said. In addition, Zelnick expects companies to begin to ramp up spending on cyber initiatives that were put on hold due to the pandemic. "We see an underappreciated opportunity in Palo Alto Networks," Zelnick said. Shares ended the week up 8%. Ryder Systems The transportation and logistics company was recently initiated with a buy rating by Goldman Sachs analyst Jordan Alliger. "While Ryder has been a public company since 1955, we do think that there is a significant amount of the Ryder story that is not fully appreciated by the market - both on a near- to medium-term, and a secular basis," he wrote. Alliger said he sees several "industry tailwinds" that indicate possible "share price momentum" throughout the rest of the year. They include rising truck orders as the economy rebounds and an increase in truck pricing, which Alliger said usually correlates to shares going higher. And Alliger noted that even though the stock finished 2020 up 14%, it still lagged most peers in its sector. The firm also has a Street high price target of $87 per share which indicates nearly 30% upside potential from the current share price. Ryder is an "undervalued pro-cyclical stock opportunity," he said. Albertsons Shares of the grocery store chain are down almost 3% since the company's strong third-quarter earnings report in mid January. In addition, Albertsons has also received several downgrades from Wall Street in recent weeks. But Bank of America analyst Robert Ohmes is urging clients to stick with the stock. Ohmes says his firm sees more upside and called the company a "top value pick" in a recent note. "As a destination retailer w/ growing omni-channel offerings, we view ACI as well-positioned to drive/maintain share gains near term and long term," he said. The firm also praised the company's strong digital growth as well as its rapidly expanding "drive up and go" grocery delivery service known as DUG among other things. "[We] continue to view ACI undervalued post strong F3Q," Ohmes wrote. Palo Alto Networks- Credit Suisse, Outperform rating "We also see an opportunity in PANW which has lagged the group and should benefit both in the near and long term. ... .We upgrade Palo Alto Networks shares to Outperform from Neutral, as we see the company well positioned heading into, what we believe, will be a strong spending environment in 2021. ... .Ultimately, we see PANW as well positioned to leverage its strong brand, large installed base, and relatively broad next gen security portfolio to capture incremental wallet share." Ryder Systems- Goldman Sachs, Buy rating "Undervalued pro-cyclical stock opportunity. ... .While Ryder has been a public company since 1955, we do think that there is a significant amount of the Ryder story that is not fully appreciated by the market - both on a near- to medium-term, and a secular basis. ... .Class 8 truck inventory remains at low levels and with the US economy set to rebound further in 2021, the need for additional trucks should increase. When used truck prices show momentum, there tends to be a positive correlation with Ryder share price" CNX Resources- Wells Fargo, Overweight rating "In our view, CNX continues to be an underappreciated free cash flow yield story. Critically,the free cash generation is accelerating towards the ~$500mm per year target by 2022in accordance with the current seven year plan. Management has indicatedthat it has the inventory to keep generating FCF beyond that despite some recentconcerns from investors. As natural gas rig activity remains well below maintenancelevels, we see a low cost cash flow machine with options for shareholder cash returns. Aflac- Morgan Stanley, Overweight rating "Underappreciated capital return story ... .We view Aflac as the industry's most undervalued capital return story, and also consider it to be a strong COVID recovery stock as the vaccine is distributed, leading us to raise our rating to Overweight. The migration toward cash flow generation as a tangible measure of shareholder value creation in the life insurance space is set to accelerate, in our view. Aflac stands out to us as the leading undervalued cash flow return story in the industry, and we are raising our rating to Overweight." Tandem Diabetes Care- Piper Sandler, Overweight rating "Taking all this together, we certainly cannot discount the fact that there are new devices coming to market that TNDM needs to watch out for, and we also want to again be clear that all our calculations are very rough estimates. ... .We're well aware of the skepticism out there, and we'll be the first to admit that there are valid risks to be cognizant of, but given all these points we encourage investors to take a deep look at this great medtech growth story and build positions in this widely undervalued name." Albertsons- Bank of America, Buy rating "Continue to view ACI undervalued post strong F3Q. ... .While IDs are likely to inflect negatively on tough compares in early F22 (vs. peak industry sales w/ the outbreak of COVID in March), we believe ACI's outlook continues to be supported by its leadership in Fresh, expansion of ready to eat/heat meal offerings, and rollout of DUG. ... .ACI remains a top value pick, Reiterate Buy & $22 PO. As a destination retailer w/ growing omni-channel offerings, we view ACI as well-positioned to drive/maintain share gains NT & LT"

Dan Amos, chairman and chief executive officer of Aflac, pets a duck while sitting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, September 10, 2018. Lucas Jackson | Reuters