Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,386 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 57,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 3,984 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $205,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 88.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after buying an additional 31,124 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 9,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $52.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.29. The stock has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.45. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.55 and a 1-year high of $70.93.

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

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 16.46%.

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.