Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 21st,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%.

Synchrony Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 4.4% annually over the last three years. Synchrony Financial has a payout ratio of 12.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.1%.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,948,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,543,203. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.34 and its 200-day moving average is $56.24. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $36.85 and a 52 week high of $69.89. The firm has a market cap of $27.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.45.

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.