Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 483,548 Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 483,548 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $19,434,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 0.33% of Synovus Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Synovus Financial by 34.6% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 29,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 404.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 153,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,150,000 after buying an additional 25,028 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in Synovus Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $435,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Synovus Financial by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. 83.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas T. Dierdorff sold 614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $28,366.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,284.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synovus Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of SNV opened at $44.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.24. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.39. Synovus Financial Corp. has a one year low of $24.40 and a one year high of $47.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $563.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $543.52 million. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 8.40%. Synovus Financial’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Synovus Financial from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Synovus Financial from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Synovus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.44.

Synovus Financial Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.