AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV - Free Report) by 226.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,065,249 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 738,983 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.75% of Synovus Financial worth $54,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SNV. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synovus Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Synovus Financial by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,095 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synovus Financial by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the bank's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Synovus Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Synovus Financial by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. 83.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on SNV shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $64.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Synovus Financial from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Synovus Financial from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.17.

Synovus Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

SNV traded up $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.14. 101,903 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,405,833. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.25 and a 200 day moving average of $50.52. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.81 and a 12-month high of $59.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $573.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $572.35 million. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Synovus Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Synovus Financial's payout ratio is presently 43.70%.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.