Investors never know what to expect for Synovus (NYSE: SNV), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 27. Synovus  is a financial services and a bank holding company. The company provides financial services, including commercial and retail banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage, and leasing services to its customers through its subsidiaries.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Synovus with 14 of 21 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Synovus as much as competitor First Horizon National overall. Ten out of 21 analysts rate First Horizon National a buy compared to five of 21 for Synovus. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $299.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 8.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is a loss of $0.03 per share. Estimates range from a loss of $0.07 to a loss of $0.01.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 85.7% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 86.5% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Synovus and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 183 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Synovus, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Net Margin

(11.0%)

(21.8%)

(42.1%)

(44.4%)

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