Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 4,681 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,903,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 340.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $336,942,000 after buying an additional 1,093,922 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth $35,986,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 258.0% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 586,678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,134,000 after buying an additional 422,800 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.62. 3,295,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,942,356. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a P/E 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.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SYF. Bank of America upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.95.

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.