Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Makes New Investment in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 44,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,300,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SNV. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Synovus Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Synovus Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 103,480 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,301,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,401 shares of the bank’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Synovus Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 83.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SNV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Synovus Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James lowered Synovus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Synovus Financial in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Synovus Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synovus Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.67.

Synovus Financial Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SNV opened at $38.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.09. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. Synovus Financial Corp. has a one year low of $33.44 and a one year high of $59.92.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $580.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is an increase from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.15%.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.