Conning Inc. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYF. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.2% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,245,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,209,000 after buying an additional 363,874 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.3% in the first quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 28.8% in the first quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC now owns 6,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. AT Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 9.8% in the first quarter. AT Bancorp now owns 142,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,889,000 after buying an additional 12,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.5% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,591,000 after buying an additional 5,864 shares in the last quarter. 89.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) opened at 30.10 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $26.01 and a 12 month high of $38.06. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.93 and its 200-day moving average is $31.60.
Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post $2.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.
Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.64 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
A number of analysts have commented on SYF shares. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “conviction-buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Guggenheim cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $38.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Barclays PLC upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 1st. Stephens cut shares of Synchrony Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $41.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.46.
In other news, Director Paget Leonard Alves purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.85 per share, with a total value of $61,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $262,872.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
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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