Metis Global Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,576 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after buying an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,797,000 after buying an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,378,000 after buying an additional 469,772 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on SYF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Compass Point lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE:SYF opened at $57.98 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.85. 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 has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.