Should Value Investors Buy Synchrony Financial (SYF) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Synchrony Financial (SYF). SYF is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.19. Over the past year, SYF's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.55 and as low as 5.49, with a median of 7.46.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SYF's P/B ratio of 1.70. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.88. Over the past 12 months, SYF's P/B has been as high as 1.78 and as low as 0.93, with a median of 1.28.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. SYF has a P/S ratio of 1.13. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.97.

Finally, our model also underscores that SYF has a P/CF ratio of 7.01. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 18.01. SYF's P/CF has been as high as 7.35 and as low as 4.37, with a median of 5.64, all within the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Synchrony Financial is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, SYF sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.