Contrasting Enova International (NYSE:ENVA) and Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) and Enova International (NYSE:ENVA) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Synchrony Financial has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enova International has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Synchrony Financial and Enova International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Synchrony Financial	$22.60 billion	1.13	$3.55 billion	$9.76	8.01
Enova International	$3.15 billion	1.84	$308.39 million	$13.49	17.25

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Synchrony Financial and Enova International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Synchrony Financial	0	7	12	0	2.63
Enova International	0	0	8	1	3.11

Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus target price of $87.78, suggesting a potential upside of 12.23%. Enova International has a consensus target price of $247.83, suggesting a potential upside of 6.48%. Given Synchrony Financial’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Synchrony Financial is more favorable than Enova International.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Synchrony Financial	15.44%	23.09%	2.98%
Enova International	10.31%	26.66%	5.55%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.5% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.4% of Enova International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Enova International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Enova International beats Synchrony Financial on 8 of the 15 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 Enova International

Enova International, Inc., a technology and analytics company, provides online financial services in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company provides installment loans; line of credit accounts; CSO programs, including arranging loans with independent third-party lenders and assisting in the preparation of loan applications and loan documents; and bank programs, such as marketing services and loan servicing for near-prime unsecured consumer installment loan. It offers money transfer services. It markets its financing products under the CashNetUSA, NetCredit, OnDeck, Headway Capital, Simplic, and Pangea names. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.