Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $3.02 Million Stock Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 29.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $3,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 54.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 5,787.5% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1,560.6% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.89.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $86.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $31.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.93. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.54 and a 1-year high of $88.77.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 22.96%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,100 shares in the company, valued at $9,252,880. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $591,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,402.17. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892 in the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.