PGGM Investments Boosts Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 22.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,610 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $9,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 786.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.32. The stock had a trading volume of 2,725,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,171,164. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.89 and a 200 day moving average of $43.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $27.30 and a 12 month high of $52.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SYF. Baird R W raised Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Compass Point started coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research started coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.41.

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.