Heritage Investors Management Corp Reduces Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Heritage Investors Management Corp cut its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 479,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,887 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $23,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SYF. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SYF shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.60.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SYF traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.15. The company had a trading volume of 56,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,909,274. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $28.84 and a 1-year high of $57.37. The stock has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.59.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.