Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after buying an additional 1,217,872 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,917,000 after buying an additional 727,649 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 674,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 655,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,916,000 after acquiring an additional 597,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SYF stock opened at $64.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $28.84 and a fifty-two week high of $67.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.07. The stock has a market cap of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 49.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% 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.