Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. decreased its holdings in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 191,008 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 27,108 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.13% of Synovus Financial worth $8,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 181.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,302,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,343,000 after acquiring an additional 838,932 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Synovus Financial by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,762,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,597,000 after purchasing an additional 491,036 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $19,434,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Synovus Financial by 14.9% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,145,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,025,000 after buying an additional 148,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,992,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,022,000 after buying an additional 147,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Synovus Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Synovus Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $48.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Synovus Financial from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Synovus Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.94.

Synovus Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SNV opened at $57.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.61. Synovus Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $59.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.14. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $564.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 68.78%.

About Synovus Financial

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.