Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $82.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $40.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SYF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.63.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of SYF stock opened at $65.45 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $35.29 and a twelve month high of $69.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 134.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 38,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the second quarter worth about $326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.