Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 129,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,101 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the 1st 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 period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 1,217,872 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,751,000 after purchasing an additional 674,093 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 655,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,916,000 after acquiring an additional 597,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value 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. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.43.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $67.22 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.20. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $29.65 and a 1 year high of $67.76. The company has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.05%.

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.