Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $72.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $59.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SYF. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.53.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF opened at $68.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.14 and a 200 day moving average of $51.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.23 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.0% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.3% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.5% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 52,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.