Synchrony Financial to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 21st,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%.

Synchrony Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years. Synchrony Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 12.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.1%.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $69.47 on Wednesday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $36.85 and a one year high of $69.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.34 and its 200 day moving average is $56.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYF. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.45.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.