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SYF or AVTA: 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 Avantax . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Synchrony has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Avantax has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that SYF is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

SYF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.20, while AVTA has a forward P/E of 38.15. We also note that SYF has a PEG ratio of 1.63. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. AVTA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.54.

Another notable valuation metric for SYF is its P/B ratio of 1.22. 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, AVTA has a P/B of 2.19.

Based on these metrics and many more, SYF holds a Value grade of A, while AVTA has a Value grade of C.

SYF is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that SYF is likely the superior value option right now.


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