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Should Value Investors Buy Synchrony Financial (SYF) Stock?

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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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Synchrony Financial (SYF - Free Report) . SYF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.65, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.69. SYF's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.68 and as low as 5.52, with a median of 8.41, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that SYF has a PEG ratio of 0.72. 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. SYF's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.93. Within the past year, SYF's PEG has been as high as 1.31 and as low as 0.48, with a median of 0.70.

Another notable valuation metric for SYF is its P/B ratio of 1.81. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.90. Within the past 52 weeks, SYF's P/B has been as high as 1.82 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.62.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SYF has a P/S ratio of 1.06. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.14.

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 as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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