StockNews.com Lowers Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research raised Synchrony Financial from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a buy rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $44.55.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF opened at $45.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.48, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.82 and a 200-day moving average of $41.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $27.30 and a 12-month high of $46.72.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 62.1% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 302,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,037,000 after acquiring an additional 115,790 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 108,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,142,000 after purchasing an additional 33,867 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 699,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,716,000 after purchasing an additional 41,455 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 280,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,646,000 after purchasing an additional 103,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,592,000. 96.48% of the stock is 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.