Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Takes $598,000 Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 11,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SYF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $347,903,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $142,838,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 340.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,512,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,573 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 700.5% in the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,107,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 169.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,356,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,702 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 146,628 shares in the company, valued at $8,807,943.96. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of SYF stock opened at $64.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.50.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 19.68%. On average, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 16.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.78.

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.