Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases New Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 25,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,291,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 123.6% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 11,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth about $5,460,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,378,000 after purchasing an additional 469,772 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 680.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 33,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 29,611 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SYF shares. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.68.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF opened at $66.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.05 and its 200 day moving average is $51.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $34.26 and a 12-month high of $69.00.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.