Athena Investment Management Purchases New Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after buying an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth about $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,378,000 after buying an additional 469,772 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $60.64 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $39.67 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.96 and a 200 day moving average of $59.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

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.