Synchrony Financial $SYF Shares Bought by Foster & Motley Inc.

Key Points

• Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.3% in Q2, owning 54,289 shares valued at $3.62 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Synchrony Financial reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.22, with a revenue of $3.82 billion, slightly above expectations.
• The company has authorized a $1 billion stock buyback plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 23.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,247 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,420,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,563,358,000 after purchasing an additional 281,383 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,868,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 358,708 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,858,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $310,145,000 after purchasing an additional 706,212 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $264,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,900,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $259,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.9%

SYF opened at $71.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $40.54 and a 52 week high of $77.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.75.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The business had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SYF. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.38.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $595,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 68,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,801,160. This represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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