BTC Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,196 shares during the quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $3,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its position 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 worth $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 589.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 644,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,133,000 after buying an additional 550,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SYF. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $69.40 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $37.91 and a twelve month high of $70.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.30. The company has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 11.71%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial 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 transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial 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.