Brokerages Set Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Target Price at $56.60

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.43.

SYF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,694,000 after purchasing an additional 19,098 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,192,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 957,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,773,000 after buying an additional 177,051 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,300,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,082,000 after buying an additional 342,979 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 287,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,569,000 after acquiring an additional 42,293 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

SYF opened at $65.14 on Tuesday. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $29.15 and a fifty-two week high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $25.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.58.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.05%.

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.