Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 492,312 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 18.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 492,312 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.78% of Synchrony Financial worth $147,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 83.6% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYF. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Compass Point began coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SYF opened at $48.89 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.31 and a 200 day moving average of $45.20. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $52.67. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.