Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Upgraded to Outperform by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) was upgraded by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, FinViz reports. The firm currently has a $62.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $45.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 41.04% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.74.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE SYF opened at $43.96 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $26.59 and a one year high of $45.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.23. 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 firm has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.58.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during 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 company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,262 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $182,739,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,609,000 after buying an additional 1,900,216 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after acquiring an additional 755,856 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.