Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its holdings in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 18.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,694 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,498 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Synovus Financial were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SNV. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 328,604 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,233,000 after buying an additional 64,621 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $968,000. Private Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 365,557 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,644,000 after purchasing an additional 21,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Synovus Financial by 92.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 47,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 22,621 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SNV. StockNews.com cut shares of Synovus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Raymond James raised shares of Synovus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.81.

Synovus Financial Price Performance

SNV opened at $45.00 on Friday. Synovus Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $24.40 and a twelve month high of $47.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.48.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.20. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 12.76%. The firm had revenue of $563.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $543.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.05%.

Insider Transactions at Synovus Financial

In other news, EVP Thomas T. Dierdorff sold 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $28,366.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,284.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

About Synovus Financial

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.