3,311,174 Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Acquired by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 3,311,174 shares of Synchrony Financial valued at approximately $175.3 million, representing about 0.87% of the company's total shares.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Synchrony Financial, with JPMorgan Chase increasing it from $52 to $80, indicating a potential strong performance in the coming months.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.50 for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.72, alongside a quarterly revenue of $3.65 billion.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,311,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $175,294,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.87% of Synchrony Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,420,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,563,358,000 after buying an additional 281,383 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,868,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,653,000 after buying an additional 358,708 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,858,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,145,000 after buying an additional 706,212 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 26.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,576,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $297,496,000 after acquiring an additional 382,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research raised Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research raised Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $69.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $66.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.09. The stock has a market cap of $25.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.49. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $40.54 and a 52 week high of $73.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 14.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $595,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 68,588 shares in the company, valued at $4,801,160. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total value of $40,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,227.40. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,133 shares of company stock worth $3,817,635. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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