Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target Raised to $44.00 at Bank of America

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

SYF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI raised 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. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.72.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $44.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.76. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $26.59 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

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.