Chartwell Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,520 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $65.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.52. The stock has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $28.84 and a 52 week high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.05%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.60.

About Synchrony Financial

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.