Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.43.

SYF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock opened at $67.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.21 and a 200-day moving average of $49.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $29.15 and a 12 month high of $67.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 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.