Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,602,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 471,958 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.93% of Synchrony Financial worth $234,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Norges Bank bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $347,903,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 340.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,512,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,573 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $336,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,922 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,021,000. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth $35,986,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

SYF stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.62. 3,295,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,942,923. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.55 and a 52-week high of $70.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.40 and a 200-day moving average of $60.17. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

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.