Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $55.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SNV. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Synovus Financial from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $64.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synovus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.56.

Synovus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SNV stock opened at $46.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Synovus Financial has a one year low of $35.81 and a one year high of $59.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.42.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.19. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $573.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Synovus Financial will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Synovus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Synovus Financial by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,041,625 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $616,892,000 after purchasing an additional 415,201 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,109,856 shares of the bank’s stock worth $261,778,000 after buying an additional 117,242 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 168.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,857,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $130,546,000 after buying an additional 1,791,973 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,370,521 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,442,000 after buying an additional 53,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,827,247 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,610,000 after buying an additional 77,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

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.