Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.63.

SYF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $65.45 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $35.29 and a 52 week high of $69.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,498,831.59. This trade 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 this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 10.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 4,732 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,694,000 after buying an additional 19,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 134.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

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.