Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 39,401 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,067% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,377 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,751,000 after purchasing an additional 674,093 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 655,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,916,000 after purchasing an additional 597,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SYF shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.60.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 3.2 %

SYF stock opened at $56.82 on Wednesday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $28.84 and a twelve month high of $57.37. The company has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.91.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.