Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys New Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board invested approximately $299,000 to purchase 5,643 shares of Synchrony Financial, marking a new position in the company.
• Multiple large institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Synchrony Financial, with holdings now comprising 96.48% of the company’s stock.
• Synchrony Financial reported a quarterly EPS of $2.50, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.72, despite a slight year-over-year decline in revenue.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SYF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 30.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 73,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,895,000 after purchasing an additional 17,061 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,506,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,485,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 70.2% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 236,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,545,000 after buying an additional 5,765 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SYF traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 146,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,103,711. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.49. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $40.54 and a 12 month high of $73.76. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $67.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.17.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 21.34%. Synchrony Financial's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $595,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 68,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,801,160. The trade was a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total transaction of $40,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,227.40. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,133 shares of company stock valued at $3,817,635. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SYF shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.