QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 42,293 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 287,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,293 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $13,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased 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 buying an additional 5,088,262 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth $182,739,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,588,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,032,000 after buying an additional 165,369 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,496,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,748,000 after buying an additional 97,235 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYF. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE SYF traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.57. 3,053,042 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,185,289. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.56. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $52.67. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,510,987.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial 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.