Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) PT Raised to $44.00

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Bank of America from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SYF. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.72.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE SYF opened at $44.67 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $26.59 and a one year high of $45.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106 in the last ninety days. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,262 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $182,739,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 158.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900,216 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after acquiring an additional 755,856 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.