Curtis Howse Sells 31,562 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Curtis Howse also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 15th, Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $45.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $46.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid 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 2.19%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SYF. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.74.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,262 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth $182,739,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 158.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900,216 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after acquiring an additional 755,856 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.