Analysts Set Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target at $44.55

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.55.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SYF stock opened at $44.89 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $27.30 and a 52-week high of $46.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.82 and a 200-day moving average of $41.10.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares in the company, valued at $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 995.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,262 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,973,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,040,000 after purchasing an additional 178,344 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $182,739,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,707,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,336,000 after purchasing an additional 145,466 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.