Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.50.

SYF has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $50.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $27.30 and a 12 month high of $52.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.65. The stock has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign 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 Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 786.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.