Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

Synchrony Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 2.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Synchrony Financial has a payout ratio of 17.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.5%.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $44.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $26.59 and a 52-week high of $45.16.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.44.

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.