Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) to Issue $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd.

Synchrony Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 2.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Synchrony Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 16.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $43.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $26.59 and a 52-week high of $45.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.23. The company has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.58.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results 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 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.74.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.