Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Increases Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,800 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $7,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $823,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 47,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total value of $2,441,184.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,628 shares in the company, valued at $8,807,943.96. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SYF shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.17.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.9%

NYSE:SYF opened at $60.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.87.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

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.