Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 22,549 Shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,419,737 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,549 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Synovus Financial were worth $107,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $430,213,000 after buying an additional 1,095,557 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Synovus Financial by 181.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,302,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,343,000 after acquiring an additional 838,932 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Synovus Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,626,424 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $517,027,000 after acquiring an additional 598,644 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Synovus Financial by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,762,983 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,597,000 after purchasing an additional 491,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Synovus Financial during the second quarter worth about $19,434,000. 83.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Synovus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SNV stock opened at $50.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.29 and a 200 day moving average of $46.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $33.44 and a 52 week high of $59.92.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.14. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The firm had revenue of $564.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.64 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. Synovus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised Synovus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Synovus Financial in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.78.

About Synovus Financial

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.