Castellan Group Buys New Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Key Points

• Castellan Group acquired a stake in Synchrony Financial, purchasing 189,929 shares valued at approximately $10.06 million, making it the company's 15th largest holding.
• Insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares at a price of $60.07, reducing their ownership by 21.70%, while another insider, Curtis Howse, sold 11,380 shares at $65.00.
• Synchrony Financial reported earnings of $2.50 per share, beating estimates, though quarterly revenue declined by 1.8% compared to the previous year.

Castellan Group purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 189,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,055,000. Synchrony Financial makes up approximately 2.8% of Castellan Group's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 122,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,939,000 after purchasing an additional 12,896 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,094,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $71,144,000 after purchasing an additional 15,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $650,678,000 after purchasing an additional 205,641 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BTIG Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.2%

NYSE SYF traded down $2.24 on Friday, reaching $67.43. The stock had a trading volume of 5,021,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,300,371. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $40.54 and a 12-month high of $73.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.20.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 108,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,024,030. This represents a 9.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total value of $2,441,184.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 146,628 shares in the company, valued at $8,807,943.96. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Synchrony Financial

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.