National Bank of Canada FI Decreases Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60,709 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $11,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $347,903,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake 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 worth $56,797,000 after buying an additional 906,172 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 231.3% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 559,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,368,000 after acquiring an additional 390,602 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SYF. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.26.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 6.0 %

NYSE:SYF opened at $43.76 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $39.67 and a 12-month high of $70.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.54. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.12, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 11.71%.

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.