Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target Raised to $51.00

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price target raised by TD Cowen from $49.00 to $51.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SYF. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.72.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of SYF opened at $44.67 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $26.59 and a 12 month high of $45.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.67 and its 200-day moving average is $36.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total value of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 995.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,262 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $182,739,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900,216 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after purchasing an additional 755,856 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.