Bank of America Raises Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target to $85.00

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $82.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.62% from the company’s previous close.

SYF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.05.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of SYF stock opened at $68.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.93 and its 200-day moving average is $57.14. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $37.91 and a 1 year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after buying an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,199,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,714,000 after purchasing an additional 37,484 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,061,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,852,000 after purchasing an additional 158,960 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.