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SYF or AXP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector might want to consider either Synchrony (SYF - Free Report) or American Express (AXP - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Synchrony and American Express are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SYF likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AXP has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

SYF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.93, while AXP has a forward P/E of 17.40. We also note that SYF has a PEG ratio of 1.81. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AXP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.66.

Another notable valuation metric for SYF is its P/B ratio of 1.75. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, AXP has a P/B of 4.35.

These metrics, and several others, help SYF earn a Value grade of A, while AXP has been given a Value grade of C.

SYF has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AXP, so it seems like value investors will conclude that SYF is the superior option right now.


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