Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 34,744 Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 34,744 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synovus Financial in the fourth quarter worth $77,209,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Synovus Financial by 226.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,065,249 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,573,000 after acquiring an additional 738,983 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Synovus Financial by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,041,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $616,892,000 after acquiring an additional 415,201 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Synovus Financial by 349.4% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 529,147 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,108,000 after acquiring an additional 411,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Synovus Financial by 5,495.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 349,866 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,924,000 after acquiring an additional 343,613 shares in the last quarter. 83.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on SNV shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $64.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Synovus Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Synovus Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.56.

Synovus Financial Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Synovus Financial stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.88. 1,114,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,400,774. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.81 and a 1 year high of $59.92. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's fifty day moving average is $44.54 and its 200 day moving average is $50.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.19. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $573.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $572.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase from Synovus Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Synovus Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.70%.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.