PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Takes Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• PFA Pension purchased 1,002,177 shares of Synchrony (~$84.5M), taking a 0.28% stake, and institutional investors now own 96.48% of the company.
• Synchrony beat Q1 estimates with $2.27 EPS, set FY2026 guidance of 9.10–9.50 EPS, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 (≈1.6% yield); analysts' average price target is $86.32, above the recent share price.
• Company insiders have sold aggressively recently—379,928 shares (~$26.17M) over the last 90 days—leaving insider ownership at about 0.32%.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,002,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $84,494,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned 0.28% of Synchrony Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,355,698,000 after buying an additional 191,920 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,018,517,000 after buying an additional 739,832 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $354,194,000 after buying an additional 406,796 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,349,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,001,000 after buying an additional 1,416,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $75.83 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $70.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 7.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 12.41%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

More Synchrony Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Synchrony Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q1 2028 EPS estimate to $2.69 from $2.43 — a sizable lift that signals improving long‑term earnings expectations. MarketBeat SYF
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks boosted its Q3 2027 EPS view to $3.07 (from $2.75), suggesting stronger expected mid‑term profitability. MarketBeat SYF
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its Q4 2026 estimate to $2.52 from $2.22 — an upgrade that improves near‑term quarterly expectations. MarketBeat SYF
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks nudged up its Q3 2026 EPS to $2.57 (from $2.50), another small but constructive revision for FY2026 cadence. MarketBeat SYF
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks increased its FY2027 EPS forecast to $10.26 (from $10.02), lifting longer‑range earnings expectations for the company. MarketBeat SYF
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts' consensus price target is $86.32 — well above the current trading level — which can act as a buoy for investor sentiment if maintained. Analyst Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks trimmed its FY2028 EPS estimate to $10.87 from $11.11, reducing longer‑term upside and indicating more modest growth than previously thought. MarketBeat SYF
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered FY2026 EPS to $9.21 from $9.29, a small cut to the current fiscal‑year outlook that may temper near‑term expectations. MarketBeat SYF
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch flagged that Synchrony has been underperforming peers, which can pressure the share price as investors favor better‑performing financials. MarketWatch Underperformance

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.32.

Insider Activity

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 217,554 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.68, for a total transaction of $14,941,608.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 829,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,950,966.96. The trade was a 20.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alberto Casellas sold 14,399 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $974,956.29. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,331 shares in the company, valued at $3,407,912.01. This trade represents a 22.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,928 shares of company stock worth $26,170,764. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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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