Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 225,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,823 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $9,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 995.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,262 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $182,739,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,946 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,826,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,112,000 after purchasing an additional 730,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 33.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 674,366 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 121,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE SYF traded down $0.50 on Wednesday, reaching $47.95. 1,489,191 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,263,270. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.79. The company has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $27.30 and a 12 month high of $48.97.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SYF. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.41.

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.