Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 6,285 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,285 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $3,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 92.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 83.6% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SYF shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $67.22 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $29.65 and a 12 month high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.05%.

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.