Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 282.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 144,324 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $13,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,080,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,698,000 after purchasing an additional 191,920 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 34.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,356,000 after buying an additional 3,494,741 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,230,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,778,000 after buying an additional 442,226 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 6.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,039,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,760,000 after buying an additional 365,353 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,490,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,108,000 after buying an additional 517,781 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $72.88 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $63.08 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 7.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.45. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.250-9.500 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. BTIG Research lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.89.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.