Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 875,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 508,082 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.22% of Synchrony Financial worth $56,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 111.5% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 151.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 807 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SYF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Cfra Research raised Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total value of $2,441,184.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,807,943.96. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $56.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,218,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,930,887. The company has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average price is $52.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.36. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. On average, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.46%.

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.