Mount Lucas Management LP Sells 64,513 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Mount Lucas Management LP cut its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 64,513 shares during the quarter. Synchrony Financial makes up approximately 0.9% of Mount Lucas Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 727,649 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 400.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 674,093 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1,043.9% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 655,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,916,000 after purchasing an additional 597,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.60.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $64.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $28.84 and a fifty-two week high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.07.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.05%.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 49.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial 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.