Synchrony Financial $SYF Stake Boosted by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 48.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,376 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 46,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 5,494 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 511.6% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 67,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 56,579 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,022,000 after purchasing an additional 120,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $469,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on SYF shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Barclays raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 12,086 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $894,605.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 108,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,219.42. This represents a 10.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,252,880. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $87.42 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.53. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.54 and a fifty-two week high of $88.53. The firm has a market cap of $31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.