Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Acquired by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 92.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 301.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.45.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $68.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day moving average of $55.97. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $35.29 and a 12 month high of $69.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.05%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.