MML Investors Services LLC Increases Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,381,000 after acquiring an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after acquiring an additional 727,649 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after acquiring an additional 157,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,599,000 after acquiring an additional 492,312 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SYF opened at $63.59 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SYF. BTIG Research lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.