iA Global Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,481 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after acquiring an additional 157,948 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,943,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,348,000 after acquiring an additional 279,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.70.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $53.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.67 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

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.