Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock Gets Downgrade from Evercore

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) was downgraded by stock analysts at Evercore from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $78.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore’s target price suggests a potential upside of 6.21% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Synchrony Financial from $87.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.61.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $73.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $63.08 and a 1 year high of $88.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $2,349,452,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,122,961,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 6.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,039,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,760,000 after purchasing an additional 365,353 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,338,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,098,000 after buying an additional 281,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,338,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,112,000 after acquiring an additional 37,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Synchrony Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Synchrony Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Synchrony reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.68 per share, above the approximately $2.42–$2.48 consensus range. Revenue of $3.82 billion was also slightly ahead of expectations. Synchrony Q3 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Purchase volume increased 8% year over year to roughly $49.7 billion, led by growth in Diversified & Value and Home & Auto spending. Management expects full-year diluted earnings of approximately $9.50 per share, toward the top end of its prior outlook. Synchrony: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Credit quality improved: net charge-offs fell to about 4.79%, while 30-day and 90-day delinquency rates declined. The results ease concerns about a broad deterioration in consumer credit. Synchrony Financial Stock Information
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equivalent to $1.36 annually, and continued returning capital through share repurchases.
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, third-quarter profit declined to $892 million, or $2.68 per share, from $1.1 billion, or $2.86 per share, a year earlier. Synchrony Financial Profit Falls on Higher Costs but Credit Trends Improve
• Negative Sentiment: Higher operating costs and investments pressured results, while net interest margin narrowed as healthier payment behavior reduced late-fee income. A high customer payment rate may also limit near-term loan-balance growth.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that provides private-label credit cards, co-branded credit cards and promotional financing programs. Its financing products are offered through retailers, manufacturers, healthcare providers and other businesses, helping consumers pay for purchases over time.

The company serves a range of industries, including digital commerce, home improvement, furniture, automotive, healthcare, jewelry, apparel, electronics and specialty retail.