Curtis Howse Sells 31,562 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,420,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,446,890. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Curtis Howse also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 15th, Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.4 %

Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.24. The stock had a trading volume of 3,644,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,461,961. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $46.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.49.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 251,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 15.5% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 88,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,709,000 after acquiring an additional 11,900 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.5% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 10.6% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SYF shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities raised 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. Barclays raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Synchrony Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.74.

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.