iA Global Asset Management Inc. Has $1.22 Million Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,957 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LBP AM SA boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 159.6% in the first quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 165,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,132,000 after acquiring an additional 101,690 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 136.5% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 50,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 29,239 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 139.0% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 35,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 20,518 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $177,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,496,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,748,000 after buying an additional 97,235 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 4.4 %

NYSE SYF traded down $2.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.56. The stock had a trading volume of 5,317,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,177,910. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 7.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $27.30 and a 12 month high of $52.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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

About Synchrony Financial

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.