Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its stake in shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,287 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Synovus Financial were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,626,424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,027,000 after buying an additional 598,644 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,674,226 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,557 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,561,056 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,255,000 after acquiring an additional 201,362 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,109,856 shares of the bank’s stock worth $261,778,000 after purchasing an additional 117,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Synovus Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,419,737 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,633,000 after purchasing an additional 22,549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Synovus Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SNV opened at $48.66 on Wednesday. Synovus Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $33.44 and a twelve month high of $59.92. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.08.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $580.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 51.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SNV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Synovus Financial from $60.50 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Synovus Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Synovus Financial in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.67.

Synovus Financial Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.