ASX on the cheap: 6 low P/E companies for your watchlist

After spending most of the year in record-high territory, the ASX has tumbled over the last few weeks. If there’s one thing value hunters like to watch for, it’s a decent fall. Nearly $40bn was wiped out from the ASX on Friday, 21 November, amid AI sell-offs in the US and shifting rate expectations.

Could this spell opportunity?

Value hunters need to consider both prices as well as fundamentals. There’s no point in buying a cheap stock if it is actually ‘cheap for a reason’.

To find candidates for a closer watch, I used Market Index’s Low P/E scan at market close on Friday, 21 November, which uses both P/E ratio and trailing 12-month earnings based on ASX data. I then added Market Index’s broker consensus tool ratings to find 6 stocks with a STRONG BUY consensus.

Given the composition of the Australian market, it should come as no surprise that Financial Services and Basic Materials companies featured prominently. That said, the list is a mixed bag and might surprise investors.

Low P/E stocks with strong buy broker consensus

To provide context on these ratios, based on Morningstar data, the S&P/ASX 200 is trading at a P/E of 19.39x. Considering some of Australia’s biggest and most widely held stocks also paints an interesting picture. For example, Commonwealth Bank trades at 25.29x, BHP at 14.7x and CSL at 18.68x.

Here’s Market Index’s list, ordered by 1-year returns.

Source: Market Index, 21 November 2025.

A closer look at the list

1) Navigator Global Investments (ASX: NGI) 

Navigator is a diversified alternative asset management company that provides investment products and services and partners with leading management teams.

It announced strong returns for FY25, with its adjusted earnings growing 26% and an 80% rise in net profit.

UBS initiated coverage of the business recently, noting that it is well-positioned to benefit from growing interest in and demand for alternative investments and believing that its growth strategy isn’t fully appreciated by the market.

Earlier this year, Datt Capital’s Emanuel Datt nominated it as a stock to hold for the next five years.

He stated, “unlike traditional fund managers, NGI earns recurring management and performance based fees without large capital outlays, enabling strong cash flow generation and high returns on equity.”

2) Ramelius Resources (ASX: RMS)

The gold mining and production business surged on the back of record gold prices, though it has fallen more recently in accordance with those same gold prices.

It offered record profit this year, with net profit after tax up 119% and EBITDA up 81%.

In the last few weeks, Ramelius released the feasibility study results for its Rebecca-Roe gold project, projected to position the business as one of Australia’s largest and most profitable gold miners. The project is expected to commence production in late 2028.

In a recent episode of Buy Hold Sell, Antares Equities’ Nick Pashias described it as “the ugly duckling” which transformed its fortunes with the acquisition of Spartan and its high-grade Dalgaranga gold deposit.

It was also named as a standout gold pick by Joseph Sitch from Victor Smorgon Group.

3) Qantas Airways (ASX: QAN)

In the past few years, the airline has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

It faced $100 million penalty in 2024 for ‘ghost flights” where customers booked tickets for flights that were never intended to occur, a $90 million fine and $120 million in compensation for unlawful sourcing of ground handling this year, pressure over executive remuneration, a cyber attack affecting 5.7 million customers in July and criticism over its aging fleet and poor service standards.

Could Qantas finally be leaving its poor recent history behind?

It announced a 28% rise in net profit to $1.6 billion for the last financial year and firm order for 214 aircraft to be delivered over the next two years across the group. In the last couple of weeks, it has seen the new Airbus A321XLR take flight, announced its plans for a new product innovation centre in Adelaide and partnered with Airwallex on a high-yield treasury product for business customers.

James Hawkins, L1 Capital, believes Qantas is a turnaround story and is likely to see further improvement from fleet renewal and the Project Sunrise initiative for long-haul flights from Sydney and Melbourne direct to London and New York.

Martin Currie’s Chris Schade calls it a Hold rather than a Buy, but describes it as “a business with momentum delivering for investors and that looks set to continue into the immediate future.”

4) Greatland Resources (ASX: GGP)

The newly listed gold and copper producer operates the Telfer gold mine, one of Australia’s largest gold-copper mining complexes and is in the process of developing Havieron, a high-grade world-class gold-copper deposit near Telfer. It is also exploring products in the Paterson Province near Telfer. It was listed in June 2025 on the ASX – the ASX listing represented a corporate restructure where its headquarters moved to Australia, as it was already listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Macquarie’s coverage at listing ranked the business as Outperform, seeing opportunities from institutional demand as well as the Havieron expansion. More recently, Citi Research lifted net cash and FY26 earnings forecasts for Greatland Resources.

The miner received some backlash in August after downgrading its forecasts for gold output a few weeks after the Australian listing, but has since reported higher-than-expected quarterly gold production.

Firetrail’s Matthew Fist highlighted bottom-up opportunities for gold investors from Greatland Resources, noting that gold had been a theme for outperformance in the Firetrail Small Companies Fund.

5) QBE Insurance Group (ASX: QBE)

One of Australia’s largest insurers, QBE operates in 27 countries and has had a strong year financially. In its FY25 report in August, net profit after tax jumped 28% to $US997 million, gross written premiums were up 6% and the outlook for growth in gross written premiums was for mid-single digits.

In recent weeks, it launched US$300m in subordinated notes, partnered with Virgin Australia to offer velocity points on new insurance policies and announced a new Chair for its Group Board with Jasmin Allen replacing Mike Wilkins.

Wilson Asset Management’s Anna Milne described it as a Hold and noted, “they are extremely well capitalised and are generating a ROE above 19%,” but cautioned around swing factors in terms of US hurricane season and crop performance.

In a mid-year episode of Buy, Hold, Sell, First Sentier’s David Wilson highlighted the careful improvement to the business by the CEO over many years after a difficult decade between 2010-2020.

“It’s now earning 15% to 18% ROE. So it’s been a slow, patient improvement and we see more runway for the stock from here,” he said.

Analysts will be watching to see whether premiums are adequate to cover the challenges of disaster seasons in the US and Australia. They’ll also be watching to see what comes next in the ASIC court case launched in 2024, which has been delayed many times. ASIC alleged QBE misled customers over the value of discounts on certain insurance products. The latest update on the case saw the Court give ASIC a deadline of 27 February 2026 to file and serve an agreed statement of facts around the case.

6) GQG Partners (ASX: GQG)

Readers will note that this business has underperformed on both a one-year basis and a five-year basis – yet it still comes up as undervalued. There’s also been plenty of cautionary tales in the funds management world to hold would-be investors back. Here’s what you need to know.

GQG Partners is a global boutique asset management firm that offers active equity portfolios. It has a focus on what it describes as ‘forward looking quality’ considering those companies it believes will be successful over the next five years and beyond.

GQG shifted its portfolios away from big tech stocks into more defensive sectors on the back of concerns over valuations and a potential AI bubble. As big tech has continued on the whole to surge, this has hit returns in the portfolios, in turn, weighing on share prices. The firm experienced a 3.4% drop in July alone, to the tune of US$1.4 billion, driven largely by a single institutional investor. Off the back of this, share prices also dropped.

In the last week, GQG significantly increased holdings across five Adani Group companies as part of its views on opportunities in emerging markets and a strategic focus on infrastructure and energy. The news was positively received by investors and shares jumped 9.1%.

Seneca Financial Solutions’ Luke Laretive sold his position in GQG Partners in July ahead of GQG reporting its first negative monthly outflow.

Macquarie forecast a 11.4% yield for GQG in FY26, though lowered valuations to reflect FUM outflows. It did caution that, “As GQG maintains defensive positioning across all strategies, continued underperformance could potentially be a headwind for future net flows.”

Cheap for a reason or an opportunity?

While the brokers might be tipping Strong Buys, the information for some of the above might not stand out as good news stories to grab. Do your due diligence: hunting for cheap stocks is more often than not a matter of caveat emptor; it could be a great opportunity, or it could just be a dog. Fundamentals matter.