Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Decreases Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise reduced its stake in Synchrony Financial by 68.7% in the first quarter, selling 31,508 shares and leaving it with 14,346 shares valued at about $975,000.
• Synchrony Financial reported Q1 earnings of $2.27 per share, topping estimates, even though revenue came in below expectations and fell 7.4% year over year.
• The company continued returning capital through a $0.30 quarterly dividend and an insider sale by Jonathan S. Mothner, while analysts maintained a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $86.05.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 68.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,346 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,508 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 959.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 545,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,131,000 after acquiring an additional 494,354 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 19.1% in the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 21.5% in the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 9,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 491.3% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 80,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,507,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:SYF opened at $78.72 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $63.08 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.80%.Synchrony Financial's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.34 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.41%.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,449,656.72. The trade was a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.05.

Synchrony Financial 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.

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