Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 100,023 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 100,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,501,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $650,678,000 after acquiring an additional 205,641 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,105,000 after acquiring an additional 380,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $347,903,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,922 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,602,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,157,000 after acquiring an additional 471,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE SYF opened at $55.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.24. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $40.55 and a one year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Compass Point downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.95.

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.