LSV Asset Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,261,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,125 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $188,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 40.2% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock opened at $71.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $55.67 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.80%.The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alberto Casellas sold 14,399 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $974,956.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,407,912.01. This represents a 22.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $261,699.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,180,320.72. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 374,630 shares of company stock valued at $25,731,741. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SYF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.05.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.