Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after purchasing an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 8.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,061,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,852,000 after purchasing an additional 158,960 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE SYF opened at $56.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.67 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.71%.

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.