OLD National Bancorp IN Makes New $306,000 Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 8,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $44.66 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.76. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $26.59 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The company has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.72.

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.