Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after acquiring an additional 906,172 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after acquiring an additional 481,750 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,378,000 after acquiring an additional 469,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $52.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $39.67 and a 12 month high of $70.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.51. The stock has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SYF. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Compass Point lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

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.