Summit Trail Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 6,508 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,088,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 589.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 644,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,133,000 after purchasing an additional 550,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after purchasing an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $63.98 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $38.25 and a 12 month high of $70.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a PE ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.