Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 2.2 %

Synchrony Financial stock traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.05. 2,417,427 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,494,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.59 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.47 and its 200-day moving average is $36.70.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 19.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.78.

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.