Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $69.14 and last traded at $69.14, with a volume of 4722 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $67.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.68.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.37. 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 $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % 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 Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 23.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,078,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,910,000 after acquiring an additional 203,663 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 9,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 88.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 31,124 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Synchrony Financial

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.