HRT Financial LP Makes New Investment in Synchrony Financial $SYF

HRT Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 258,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,264,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5,787.5% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 337.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $84.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $30.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.30. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.54 and a fifty-two week high of $86.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 22.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. HSBC raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $591,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,402.17. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total value of $221,245.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,425.92. The trade was a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.