The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target to $56.00

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $49.00 to $56.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on SYF. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.50.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $49.97 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $20.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.47. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $27.30 and a 12-month high of $52.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $182,739,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 674,366 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.