Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Takes Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 995.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after buying an additional 5,088,262 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,739,000. Boston Partners raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,826,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,112,000 after purchasing an additional 730,318 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,588,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,032,000 after purchasing an additional 165,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,266,000 after buying an additional 674,366 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

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

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $50.52. 3,578,229 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,265,488. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.47. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $27.30 and a 52-week high of $52.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

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.