Boston Partners Cuts Stock Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Boston Partners trimmed its Synchrony Financial stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 70,624 shares and leaving it with 3.85 million shares valued at about $321 million.
• Insider selling and analyst views were mixed: insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares in May, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $86.05.
• Synchrony reported solid earnings and returned cash to shareholders, beating EPS estimates last quarter with $2.27 per share and paying a quarterly dividend of $0.30, equal to a 1.6% annualized yield.

Boston Partners cut its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,847,913 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 70,624 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 1.11% of Synchrony Financial worth $320,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,080,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,355,698,000 after buying an additional 191,920 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,335,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,517,000 after acquiring an additional 739,832 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $354,194,000 after acquiring an additional 406,796 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,134,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $431,999,000 after buying an additional 592,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $383,231,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.05.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $73.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.33. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $59.46 and a twelve month high of $88.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.60.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.80%.The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership 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 issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

About Synchrony Financial

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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