Here are 6 ASX 200 stocks with low PE multiples – are they bargain buys?

Here are 6 ASX 200 stocks with low PE multiples!

Helia (ASX:HLA): 9.4x for FY26

Helia is a mortgage insurer, formally known as Genworth until it had to change its name after the US company by the same name broke up with it as an investor and commercial partner. Shares in this company are down (and so is its PE multiple by extension) after it lost CBA as a customer.

CBA has entered into exclusive negotiations with another provider, negotiations that if successful would lead to the current contract not being renewed beyond its expiry on December 31 2025. This contract represented 44% of GWP (Gross Written Premium) in FY24. Things just have not been the same and neither its share price or P/E multiple has reflected any form of optimism.

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Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR) – 6.7x for FY26

Karoon has been struggling with operational issues, rising costs and low oil prices. Particularly concerning were results in the June quarter where therealised oil price at Buana was US$64.15 vs US$82.55 just a year ago, and net debt blew out to US$237.9m. Moreover, unit production costs rose from US$13.02/boe to US$13.96/be.

Brokers, particularly Macquarie, have warned the 12 months ahead will be different due to operational requirements (e.g., pump replacements, life extension for Baúna FPSO) which could eat into cash flow or require more investment. Adding insult to injury, its Mississippi-based exploration well did not find significant hydrocarbon bearing intervals.

Qantas (ASX:QAN) – 8.2x for FY26

Qantas is doing well in its market, there is little question about that. And shares are well ahead of its COVID lows. But after making a A$1.6bn profit in FY25, the company came out just 2 months later and warned it was seeing subdued demand from businesses for travel (except the resources space).

And so it now expects revenues to rise at about 3% in the first half of the year as opposed to the earlier forecast of 5%. You could also argue investors are worried about its capex bill for Projects Sunrise and Winton.

GQG (ASX:GQG) – 6.8x for FY26

Last time we wrote this column, we reported Magellan and noted it was the loss of its mandate with UK fund manager St James’ Palace – a mandate worth $23bn to the group. Since then, Magellan has been bought out by Platinum. GQG has not had these issues, but there have troubles facing fund managers which we spelled out in greater detail here.

And perhaps you could say given the industry sneezed, this stock caught a cold. It has not had management turmoil that Magellan had, but it underperformed the market for a while as its investment in Adani did not go so well, and it avoided the tech sector meaning it missed out on gains its peers did. A particularly negative note from UBS warned inflow would drop, and shares did not recover.

Ultimately, this was true as new inflows fell 28% in its 1H25 results. Lower inflows or redemptions are especially problematic for active managers like GQG, because assets under management (AUM) drive management fees. We’d also note the secular shift toward passive investing (particularly in the form of ETFs), is putting pressure on active managers

HMC Capital (ASX:HMC) – 10.6x for FY26

We wrote about this company earlier this week. HMC is basically an investment company listed in its own right but it has multiple REITs it operates. Despite management claiming things are well, investors are not seeing that way as evidenced by its shedding of two thirds of its value, not to mention its low P/E multiple.

This is for a number of reasons. We noted the company is expecting a lower bottom line in FY26. But also some of its investments, particularly in renewable energy, are not going well. One warning sign was then HMC delayed the settlement of its $950m acquisition of Neoen’s Victorian renewable assets by one month and another was a fire incident at one of the Bulgana wind farm turbines.

There are also concerns about performance in the individually listed REITs. In particular, HealthCo was hit by financial distress at Healthscope, which is a major tenant. Healthscope entered administration in May 2025, and it was not able to pay rent until November. The money has come in now, but the situation was enough for HealthCo to suspend distributions until the situation was resolved. And this meant delayed cash flows to HMC as it is an investor.

Pepper Money (ASX:PPM) – 9.6x for FY26

If you’re a lender other than the Big 4 or Macquarie, you’ve had a rough time – and its not the low P/E multiples. The P/E multiples are just a symptom of the problems rather than a problem. Even though interest rates increased 12x and investors shopped around for better deals, smaller lenders have customers that aren’t as high credit quality as those of the major banks.

Pepper made out list in a previous edition of this article and we noted closed CY24 with a $98.2m profit, which was down 10%, and its saw its pre-tax and loss loan expense up 9%. Its loan loss expense increased by $29.4m ‘driven by late-stage arrears and increased insolvencies in the first half of the year’. To the company’s credit, it paid a 12.1c per share dividend which was 41% up on the year before and represented a yield of over 8%.

Since then, the company has been buoyed by speculation that it could be taken over by private equity, or that changes might be coming with investment bank Jefferies hired to conduct a strategic review. The company’s multiple has risen from 6x to over 9x, but it is still well below the Big 4 and Macquarie.