Toronto Dominion Bank Purchases 1,029 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.06% of Synchrony Financial worth $10,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,420,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares in the company, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SYF shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.50.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SYF traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,803,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,208,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $27.30 and a 1 year high of $52.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.84. The firm has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.