Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 6,285 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 10.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,285 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $3,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 92.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SYF opened at $67.22 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $29.65 and a twelve month high of $67.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.20. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.59.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Insider Activity

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

Synchrony Financial 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.