Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 24.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,962 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. City Center Advisors LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 10.7% during the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $206,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter worth $329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $2,441,184.73. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,807,943.96. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF opened at $61.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.18 and a 200-day moving average of $59.89. 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 has a 1-year low of $40.55 and a 1-year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SYF. Cfra Research upgraded Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $44.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.17.

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.