Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Has $19.54 Million Position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 381,360 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 102,044 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 0.27% of Synovus Financial worth $19,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 6,047 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,421 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 6,699 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,548 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 10,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Synovus Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.85% of the company’s stock.

Synovus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SNV stock opened at $44.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $33.44 and a 52 week high of $59.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.95 and a 200-day moving average of $50.92. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $580.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Synovus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SNV. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Synovus Financial in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Synovus Financial in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.67.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.