Barclays Upgrades Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) to Overweight

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $79.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $59.00. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SYF. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.98.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $66.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $35.29 and a 1 year high of $69.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after buying an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,088,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 400.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,751,000 after purchasing an additional 674,093 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.