Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $27.57, but opened at $29.53. Synchrony Financial shares last traded at $30.87, with a volume of 11,172,344 shares.
The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 13.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 7th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 22.64%.
Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.64 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Sunday, April 30th. BidaskClub lowered Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 5th. TheStreet upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.46.
In other news, Director Paget Leonard Alves acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.85 per share, with a total value of $61,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,872.85. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 11.1% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 195,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after buying an additional 19,480 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 8,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 115,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,949,000 after buying an additional 2,843 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 22,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 9.1% in the first quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 35,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 2,986 shares during the period. 89.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.92 and a 200-day moving average of $31.61.
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About Synchrony Financial
Synchrony Financial is a consumer financial services company. The Company provides a range of credit products through programs it has established with a group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations and healthcare service providers. The Company’s revenue activities are managed through three sales platforms: Retail Card, Payment Solutions and CareCredit.
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