AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,266,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245,527 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.15% of Synchrony Financial worth $284,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 25.0% during the first quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 36.0% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,900,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,421,000 after buying an additional 1,297,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the second quarter valued at about $299,360,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,022,000 after acquiring an additional 120,045 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,209,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,672,000 after acquiring an additional 335,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SYF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, HSBC raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $84.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $40.54 and a twelve month high of $86.22. The company has a market capitalization of $30.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.30.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $221,245.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,425.92. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 12,086 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $894,605.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 108,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,219.42. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.