Sienna Gestion Acquires 805 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 805 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $182,739,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548,180 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 valued at $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 674,366 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF stock opened at $51.04 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.24. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $52.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.62.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 13.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SYF. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.41.

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.