Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives $50.41 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.41.

SYF has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after acquiring an additional 19,098 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the first quarter worth about $2,192,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 33.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after buying an additional 674,366 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 98.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 11,846 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 490,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,134,000 after buying an additional 168,920 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $51.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.61. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $27.30 and a 1 year high of $52.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.81.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

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.