Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Given New $53.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $49.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SYF. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.91.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of SYF stock traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,810,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,262,166. The company has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $27.30 and a twelve month high of $52.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.27.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 786.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by 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.