Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 447 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after acquiring an additional 906,172 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $41,088,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 589.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 644,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,133,000 after acquiring an additional 550,750 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after acquiring an additional 481,750 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF opened at $61.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $39.35 and a 1-year high of $70.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on SYF shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.30.

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.