Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Upgraded at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an underweight rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.10.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.9 %

SYF stock opened at $48.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.30. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $27.30 and a one year high of $48.36. The stock has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 38,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 35,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 90,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,896,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 34,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.