Clarius Group LLC Makes New Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Clarius Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 25.9% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,485,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 70.2% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,665,000 after buying an additional 6,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth $1,121,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.78.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $61.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $55.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.63. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $40.55 and a twelve month high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 19.68% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $2,441,184.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,807,943.96. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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.

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