Norges Bank Invests $347.90 Million in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,352,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $347,903,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised 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 valued at $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after buying an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,830,000 after buying an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,943,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,348,000 after buying an additional 279,517 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SYF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $52.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $39.67 and a one year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

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.