The best stocks to buy are rarely the ones making headlines. Sometimes the most compelling opportunities are the ones the market has quietly left behind.
And right now, two FTSE 100 names stand out for exactly that reason.
Value pick #1: Croda International
Croda International’s (LSE:CRDA) a speciality chemicals company that supplies high-performance ingredients to the consumer care, life sciences, and crop protection industries globally.
It’s been a bruising few years for shareholders. Earnings collapsed from £653.3m in 2022 to just £64.7m in 2025 as post-Covid inventory correction crushed volumes across its end markets. And the share price has followed, falling sharply from its peak.
But institutional analysts are increasingly convinced the worst is over.
Goldman Sachs and Jefferies both carry Buy ratings, both with targets of 3,500p. And the average 12-month target across all analysts sits at around 3,478p, implying roughly a 16% upside from today’s price of around 3,005p.
So is it still a good investment?
The recovery thesis rests on restocking. With global customer inventories now normalised after two years of destocking, demand across Croda’s end markets is expected to gradually recover through 2026 and into 2027.
The risk however, is timing. Goldman Sachs notes that consensus organic growth forecasts of 4.5% for 2026 look challenging relative to Croda’s historical average of 1.8%. And therefore, a slower-than-expected recovery could keep sentiment depressed for longer.
Value pick #2: Aviva
Aviva’s (LSE:AV.) one of the UK’s largest insurance and wealth management groups, providing life insurance, general insurance, and retirement savings products to millions of customers across the UK, Ireland, and Canada.
Unlike Croda, Aviva’s recovery is already well underway. In 2025, operating profit rose 25% to £2.2bn, hitting its 2026 target a full year early. The dividend was raised 10% to 39.3p per share, and management launched a new £350m stock buyback.
So it’s no surprise that the analysts at Berenberg recently issued a Buy recommendation with an 800p share price target – roughly 24% higher than where the stock trades today.
The investment thesis is straightforward. With an ageing population, structural demand for Aviva’s products and services is on the rise. And with the business already generating impressive volumes of cash, its 6.1% dividend yield today is already rewarding shareholders.
However, the primary risk worth watching is integration.
Aviva’s acquisition of Direct Line has expanded its footprint dramatically, but the Solvency II cover ratio fell to 177% following the deal. Some pullback in capital buffers is to be expected.
But if it continues to shrink moving forward, that could be an early warning sign that the large takeover isn’t living up to expectations.
To buy, or not to buy?
Both Croda and Aviva are viewed as undervalued stocks to buy by institutional analysts in a market that appears to have advanced without them. Yet with the evidence of recovery building at both businesses, it may not be long before the broader market catches up.
Personally, I think Aviva’s in a stronger position out of the two. But both are worth investigating further. And they’re not the only value stock opportunity that’s on my radar right now…
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Zaven Boyrazian does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.
