Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Makes New $110,000 Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after buying an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,199,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,714,000 after buying an additional 37,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $61.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.56 and a 200 day moving average of $59.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $39.35 and a 52 week high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 11.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SYF. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.30.

About Synchrony Financial

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.