Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after buying an additional 1,900,216 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after buying an additional 755,856 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,907,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,871,000 after purchasing an additional 720,587 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 99.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,306,000 after purchasing an additional 478,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth $11,732,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $42.88 on Wednesday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $26.59 and a one year high of $43.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.10. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Bank of America upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research raised Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.44.

Synchrony Financial 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.