Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target Raised to $72.50 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $72.50 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.01% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.43.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,282,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,968,953. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.24. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $29.15 and a 52 week high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Boston Partners raised 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 worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $41,088,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.