Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 55.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 481,833 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.10% of Synchrony Financial worth $24,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $552,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 301.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 22.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 109,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 20,410 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 59,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $43.76 on Monday. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $39.67 and a 12-month high of $70.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.12, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 11.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SYF. Bank of America increased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Compass Point downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.26.

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.