Sanders Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Sanders Capital LLC cut its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,413 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Boston Partners raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $39,751,000 after purchasing an additional 674,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% during 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 buying an additional 597,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $66.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $29.15 and a 52 week high of $67.76. The stock has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SYF. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

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.