Allstate Corp Takes $752,000 Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $752,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth about $791,000. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 70,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 680.7% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth $5,460,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SYF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Compass Point lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.10.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

SYF stock opened at $52.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.66. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $39.67 and a 12 month high of $70.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.71%.

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.