Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,105,000 after buying an additional 380,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth $347,903,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after purchasing an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,943,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,348,000 after purchasing an additional 279,517 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

SYF stock opened at $52.39 on Monday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $39.67 and a one year high of $70.93. The company has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SYF. Barclays upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.10.

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.