UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock Price

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at UBS Group from $58.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 3.30% from the stock’s previous close.

SYF has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.45.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.89. 542,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,282,474. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $35.29 and a twelve month high of $69.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 589.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 644,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,133,000 after purchasing an additional 550,750 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.