Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 69,487 Shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 163.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 112,044 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,487 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Synovus Financial were worth $5,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synovus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Synovus Financial by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Synovus Financial by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Synovus Financial by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Synovus Financial in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Synovus Financial from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Synovus Financial from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Synovus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.17.

Synovus Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SNV opened at $40.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $33.44 and a 12 month high of $59.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $580.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.83 million. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a boost from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 51.15%.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.