PennyMac Financial Services (PFSI) Competitors

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) and PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking and profitability.

Which has more volatility and risk, SYF or PFSI?

Synchrony Financial has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PennyMac Financial Services has a beta of 1.73, indicating that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SYF or PFSI?

Synchrony Financial received 460 more outperform votes than PennyMac Financial Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.23% of users gave Synchrony Financial an outperform vote while only 64.16% of users gave PennyMac Financial Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Synchrony Financial	Outperform Votes 861 70.23%	Underperform Votes 365 29.77%
PennyMac Financial Services	Outperform Votes 401 64.16%	Underperform Votes 224 35.84%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, SYF or PFSI?

Synchrony Financial has higher revenue and earnings than PennyMac Financial Services. Synchrony Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PennyMac Financial Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Synchrony Financial	$16.11B	1.25	$3.50B	$7.29	7.13
PennyMac Financial Services	$2.98B	1.68	$311.42M	$6.52	14.94

Is SYF or PFSI a better dividend stock?

Synchrony Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. PennyMac Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Synchrony Financial pays out 16.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PennyMac Financial Services pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Synchrony Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer SYF or PFSI?

In the previous week, Synchrony Financial had 22 more articles in the media than PennyMac Financial Services. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Synchrony Financial and 13 mentions for PennyMac Financial Services. Synchrony Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat PennyMac Financial Services' score of 0.96 indicating that Synchrony Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Synchrony Financial	17 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
PennyMac Financial Services	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer SYF or PFSI?

Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus target price of $63.95, suggesting a potential upside of 23.02%. PennyMac Financial Services has a consensus target price of $121.17, suggesting a potential upside of 24.36%. Given PennyMac Financial Services' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe PennyMac Financial Services is more favorable than Synchrony Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Synchrony Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
PennyMac Financial Services	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of SYF or PFSI?

96.5% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.9% of PennyMac Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.6% of PennyMac Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is SYF or PFSI more profitable?

PennyMac Financial Services has a net margin of 19.54% compared to Synchrony Financial's net margin of 15.36%. Synchrony Financial's return on equity of 18.30% beat PennyMac Financial Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Synchrony Financial	15.36%	18.30%	2.23%
PennyMac Financial Services	19.54%	16.61%	2.72%

Summary

Synchrony Financial beats PennyMac Financial Services on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.