Synovus Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,381,000 after purchasing an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,917,000 after buying an additional 727,649 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after acquiring an additional 157,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,599,000 after acquiring an additional 492,312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.53.

Insider Activity

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 5.4 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $63.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.67. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39. The company has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

About Synchrony Financial

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.