Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,595 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $8,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 valued at $241,448,000 after buying an additional 5,088,262 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,739,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during 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 buying an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,826,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,112,000 after buying an additional 730,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 674,366 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.36. 112,373 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,166,552. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $52.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.99.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.