Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives $56.60 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.43.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SYF shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Compass Point raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at about $41,088,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SYF opened at $65.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.75. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $29.15 and a 1 year high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. Synchrony Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 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.