Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB) vs. Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Head-To-Head Comparison

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) and Ponce Financial Group (NASDAQ:PDLB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Synchrony Financial has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ponce Financial Group has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Synchrony Financial and Ponce Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Synchrony Financial	15.72%	23.07%	3.01%
Ponce Financial Group	14.72%	9.68%	0.92%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Synchrony Financial and Ponce Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Synchrony Financial	$22.60 billion	0.98	$3.55 billion	$9.29	6.89
Ponce Financial Group	$194.94 million	2.03	$28.70 million	$1.19	13.83

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Synchrony Financial and Ponce Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Synchrony Financial	0	7	13	1	2.71
Ponce Financial Group	0	1	1	1	3.00

Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus target price of $87.11, indicating a potential upside of 36.09%. Given Synchrony Financial’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Synchrony Financial is more favorable than Ponce Financial Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.5% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Ponce Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Ponce Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Synchrony Financial beats Ponce Financial Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms. In addition, it provides debt cancellation products to its credit card customers through online, mobile, and direct mail; and healthcare payments and financing solutions under the CareCredit and Walgreens brands; payments and financing solutions in the apparel, specialty retail, outdoor, music, and luxury industries, such as American Eagle, Dick's Sporting Goods, Guitar Center, Kawasaki, Pandora, Polaris, Suzuki, and Sweetwater. The company offers its credit products through programs established with a group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations, and healthcare service providers; and deposit products through various channels, such as digital and print. It serves digital, health and wellness, retail, home, auto, telecommunications, jewelry, pets, and other industries. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Ponce Financial Group

Ponce Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Ponce Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit products, including demand accounts, NOW/IOLA, money market, reciprocal deposits, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit to individuals, business entities, and non-profit organizations, as well as individual retirement accounts. The company also provides real estate-secured loans, which includes one-to-four family investor-owned and owner-occupied residential; multifamily residential; nonresidential property; construction and land; commercial and industrial; and business and consumer loans, as well as lines of credit. In addition, it invests in securities, which consist of U.S. Government and federal agency securities and securities issued by government-sponsored or owned enterprises, as well as corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities, and Federal Home Loan Bank stock. Ponce Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Bronx, New York.