Donoghue Forlines LLC Acquires New Stake in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 29,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,064,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $299,360,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,494,741 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 149.4% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,803,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080,389 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $64,429,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,159,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,882,000 after purchasing an additional 946,278 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $92.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.47.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 3.3%

SYF stock opened at $80.25 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.54 and a 1-year high of $88.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.43.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction 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 $2,644,402.17. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $221,245.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,191,425.92. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company 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.