Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 240 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 396.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 18,171 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 17.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 5.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 67,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 51.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 158,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,927,000 after purchasing an additional 54,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $53.42 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. 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.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 1.87%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.71%.

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.