Visa, MasterCard ‘strangely undervalued,’ stocks a buy, Barron’s says

Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) have been on a tear-and yet their stocks remain cheap. Investors should take the opportunity to scoop up shares, Nicholas Jasinski writes in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Visa’s current valuation multiple is a premium of about 30% over the S&P 500, half its historical average of roughly 60%. The picture is similar for Mastercard-it’s cheaper relative to the market and its own history than it has been in a while. Nothing appears to have changed for either company to warrant a multiple that low compared with the S&P 500, the author notes.