Research Brief Updated 2026-08-27

Safest Value Stocks 2026

US stocks with the lowest Value Trap scores in 2026. Screen for genuine value opportunities and avoid common traps.

5,877 covered · 4,376 qualify 13 models active By CirclFi Research Team

Which US Stocks Rank Highest by Trap Score?

4,376 qualifying of 5,877 US equities covered.

# Ticker Company Signal QOC Price Trap Score Industry
1 DFIN Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. 8.3 $47.96 2/100 Software - Application
2 TRS TriMas Corporation 8.0 $39.58 2/100 Packaging & Containers
3 TWO Two Harbors Investment Corp. 5.4 $12.18 3/100 REIT - Mortgage
4 MCB Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. 7.8 $91.68 3/100 Banks - Regional
5 CASY Casey's General Stores, Inc. 8.6 $763.38 5/100 Specialty Retail
6 CLH Clean Harbors, Inc. 8.9 $311.81 5/100 Waste Management
7 DHX DHI Group, Inc. 7.1 $4.10 5/100 Software - Application
8 EFX Equifax Inc. 7.8 $190.36 5/100 Consulting Services
9 LAUR Laureate Education, Inc. 8.8 $39.04 5/100 Education & Training Services
10 MSA MSA Safety Incorporated 9.3 $191.67 5/100 Security & Protection Services
11 M••• Materialise ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
12 N••• ServiceNow, ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
13 O••• ONEOK, ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
14 O••• Onto ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
15 O••• Ooma, ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
16 S••• Science ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
17 T••• Tenet ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
18 V••• Verisk ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
19 V••• Valvoline ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••
20 X••• XPO, ••••• •.• $•••.•• ••.•% •••••

You’re seeing 10 of 4,376 qualifying stocks.

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How CirclFi Ranks All Stocks

CirclFi publishes a valuation page for all 5,877 US equities it covers and can state a 13-model median fair value for the 3,801 with enough filing history for at least two models to run — reading SEC EDGAR filings, FRED macro data, and GDELT sentiment.

Profitability Matrix

ROIC, Gross Margin expansion, and FCF Yield analysis.

Growth Vector

Revenue compounding vs. sector benchmarks.

Stability Index

Altman Z-Score, debt resilience, and earnings variance.

Methodology: Trap Score

The Value Trap detector combines momentum divergence, insider selling patterns, accounting quality flags, and sector-relative valuation spread to score trap risk from 0 to 100.

Models: Bayesian DCF, EPV, First Chicago, Markov DDM, ML-RIV, FTNN Topology, and 7 more.

What Should You Know About This US Screen?

What are the safest value stocks in 2026?

CirclFi identifies the safest value stocks 2026 using 13 institutional-grade valuation models including Bayesian DCF (10,000 Monte Carlo simulations), EPV (Greenwald framework), and EROIC Spread (McKinsey). Rankings update daily from SEC EDGAR filings. The current top-ranked stock is DFIN (Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.).

How does CirclFi rank these stocks?

Stocks are ranked by Trap Score derived from CirclFi's proprietary models. Each model independently processes SEC EDGAR financial data (700+ XBRL tags), FRED macroeconomic indicators, and GDELT news sentiment to produce confidence-weighted fair value estimates. The ranking methodology combines multiple valuation approaches — intrinsic, relative, scenario, and ensemble — for maximum robustness.

How often is the safest value stocks 2026 list updated?

This list is recalculated daily after US market close. Every stock is re-valued through all 13 models using the latest SEC EDGAR filings, market prices, and FRED macroeconomic data. Rankings can change daily as new financial data becomes available or market prices shift relative to fair value estimates.

What is the Quality of Company (QOC) score?

The QOC score is a 0-10 composite rating derived from 32 fundamental signals across four pillars: profitability (ROE, ROIC, margins), growth (revenue CAGR, earnings acceleration), stability (earnings volatility, debt coverage), and capital efficiency (asset turnover, free cash flow yield). Higher scores indicate stronger fundamentals. Scores above 7 represent top-tier companies.

How does this list compare to other stock screeners?

Unlike simple screeners that filter by P/E or dividend yield, CirclFi runs 13 independent institutional-grade valuation models on every stock — including Bayesian DCF with Monte Carlo simulation, Greenwald EPV, and McKinsey economic profit frameworks. Each company is scored on 32 fundamental signals drawn from 700+ SEC EDGAR XBRL tags, then re-valued after every US market close. Most retail screeners use one or two metrics; this screen ranks 5,877 US companies on the median of all 13.