Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $53.29, but opened at $55.21. Synchrony Financial shares last traded at $54.46, with a volume of 1,584,086 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on SYF shares. BTIG Research cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.40.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 4.0 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.36. The stock has a market cap of $21.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other 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 value of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Boston Partners increased its position 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 worth $274,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548,180 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,872 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after acquiring an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 33.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 674,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

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.