Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $62.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $45.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SYF. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $43.74.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $45.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.49. The firm has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.59 and a fifty-two week high of $45.91.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,739,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900,216 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,187,000 after purchasing an additional 755,856 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.