Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stake Lessened by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 4.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,294 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,266,000 after buying an additional 674,366 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 98.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 11,846 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 52.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 490,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,134,000 after purchasing an additional 168,920 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 998,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,011,000 after purchasing an additional 30,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 62.1% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 302,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 115,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial 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 directly owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF stock opened at $50.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.99. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $52.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

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.