Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 494,354 Shares of Synchrony Financial $SYF

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 959.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 545,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 494,354 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $37,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $383,231,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,494,741 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth $84,494,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 222.5% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 937,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,555,000 after purchasing an additional 646,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,134,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $431,999,000 after buying an additional 592,567 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,449,656.72. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, April 20th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.05.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $78.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $63.08 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.46.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

About Synchrony Financial

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.