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Are Investors Undervaluing Synchrony Financial (SYF) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Synchrony Financial (SYF - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. SYF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.61. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.86. Over the last 12 months, SYF's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.55 and as low as 5.49, with a median of 7.40.

Another notable valuation metric for SYF is its P/B ratio of 1.45. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.01. Over the past 12 months, SYF's P/B has been as high as 1.50 and as low as 0.92, with a median of 1.26.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. 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 0.98. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.92.

Finally, investors should note that SYF has a P/CF ratio of 5.99. 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. SYF's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 15.47. SYF's P/CF has been as high as 6.69 and as low as 4.30, with a median of 5.58, all within the past year.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Synchrony Financial is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SYF feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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