Truist Financial Corp Purchases 33,631 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 126.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,631 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 15,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 16,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SYF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.74.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SYF opened at $45.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $26.67 and a 1 year high of $46.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 buy up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,437 shares of company stock valued at $7,242,432. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.