B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,349 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the business’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 directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $47,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $51.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.84. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market cap of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

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.