AIA Group Ltd Grows Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 60.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,021 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 8.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 35,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after buying an additional 9,460 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 56.1% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 47,112 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $3,164,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,082.36. This trade represents a 42.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $261,699.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,432 shares in the company, valued at $1,180,320.72. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 379,928 shares of company stock worth $26,170,764. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.11.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $65.58 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.54 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $22.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.06, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.16. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 15.72%.The company had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 12.92%.

Synchrony Financial 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.