Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $44.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $26.59 and a one year high of $45.33. The stock 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.56 and its 200 day moving average is $36.76.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

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

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total value of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.72.

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.