Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $76.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.24. 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 has a 1-year low of $63.08 and a 1-year high of $88.77.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Synchrony Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 12.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SYF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.47.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.