State of Alaska Department of Revenue Lowers Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,165 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $5,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,739,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after buying an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,826,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,112,000 after acquiring an additional 730,318 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,907,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,871,000 after acquiring an additional 720,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 99.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,306,000 after acquiring an additional 478,676 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.10.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $47.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.45. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $48.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.