Brokerages Set Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target at $63.95

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.95.

SYF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Compass Point cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,327,000 after acquiring an additional 10,294 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 84,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,907 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $833,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $60.47 on Tuesday. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.55 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.92 and a 200 day moving average of $60.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 16.46%.

About Synchrony Financial

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.