Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Grows Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 596,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,739 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $39,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 5.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 36.3% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.6% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 9,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $72.24 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.50. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $40.54 and a twelve month high of $77.41.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $595,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 68,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,801,160. The trade was a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total transaction of $40,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,227.40. This trade represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SYF. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.45.

Synchrony Financial 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.