ZEGA Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,105,000 after acquiring an additional 380,870 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after purchasing an additional 481,750 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,943,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,348,000 after purchasing an additional 279,517 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Compass Point cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.10.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SYF opened at $54.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $39.67 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.41 and a 200 day moving average of $60.20.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.71%.

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.