Donoghue Forlines LLC Purchases New Stake in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 29,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,064,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,494,741 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,194,000 after buying an additional 406,796 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,542,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,236,000 after buying an additional 333,093 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $299,360,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,266,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,737,000 after buying an additional 245,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday, December 5th. HSBC raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.47.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $80.25 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $40.54 and a 1 year high of $88.77. The firm has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.46 and a 200 day moving average of $75.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 22.96%. The business had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total transaction of $591,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,402.17. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $221,245.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,425.92. This trade represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.