Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,739,000 after buying an additional 1,217,872 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after purchasing an additional 674,093 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 655,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,916,000 after purchasing an additional 597,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $65.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.78. The company has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $29.15 and a 12 month high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.