Stock Buyback Program Announced by Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.66. 4,711,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,524,034. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $26.59 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,183 shares in the company, valued at $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total value of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 over the last three months. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.