Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,101 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,300,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,082,000 after purchasing an additional 342,979 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $3,465,000. PGGM Investments raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 91.4% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 156,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,740,000 after acquiring an additional 74,637 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter worth $815,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the first quarter worth $2,192,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SYF. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock opened at $67.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $29.65 and a 52-week high of $67.76. The company has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.20.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.05%.

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.