Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC Acquires New Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 62.1% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 302,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,037,000 after buying an additional 115,790 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 108,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,142,000 after acquiring an additional 33,867 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 699,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,716,000 after purchasing an additional 41,455 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 280,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,646,000 after purchasing an additional 103,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,592,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,420,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $44.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.10. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $27.30 and a 12-month high of $46.72.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.