Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 7,662 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 122% compared to the average daily volume of 3,452 call options.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,437 shares of company stock worth $7,242,432 over the last three months. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.74.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $46.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.79. The company has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $46.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

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.