Synchrony Financial $SYF Shares Bought by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 97.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,707 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $74.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.54. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $63.08 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Synchrony Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 9.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.