Balboa Wealth Partners Makes New Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Balboa Wealth Partners purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after purchasing an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,378,000 after purchasing an additional 469,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $53.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.06. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $39.67 and a 1-year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SYF shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.30.

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.