State of Wyoming Purchases 3,503 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

State of Wyoming boosted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 55.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,503 shares during the period. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $650,678,000 after acquiring an additional 205,641 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,105,000 after acquiring an additional 380,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $347,903,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,942,000 after buying an additional 1,093,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,602,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,157,000 after buying an additional 471,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cfra Research upgraded Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, April 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $60.88 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.41. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.55 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The firm has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. 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 (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. On average, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. 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. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.46%.

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.