Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys Shares of 8,292 Synchrony Financial $SYF

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 43.2% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 68,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,890,000 after purchasing an additional 20,778 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,335,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,517,000 after purchasing an additional 739,832 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.5% during the third quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 54,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth $2,108,000. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 27.2% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 397,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,145,000 after purchasing an additional 85,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.05.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock opened at $74.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $60.01 and a 12-month high of $88.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.59.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

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.