Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in Synchrony Financial by 4.6%, now holding approximately 632,747 shares, which accounts for about 0.8% of its portfolio.
• Synchrony Financial reported an EPS of $2.50 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates of $1.72, with total revenues of $3.65 billion, down 1.8% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30, translating to an annualized yield of 1.6%, while the insider ownership remains low at 0.32% following recent share sales.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 632,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,359 shares during the quarter. Synchrony Financial accounts for 0.8% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.17% of Synchrony Financial worth $42,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the first quarter valued at $11,506,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,020,839 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $206,711,000 after buying an additional 50,162 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 25.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew 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 valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,227.40. This represents a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,494 shares of company stock worth $1,376,450 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic raised Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.79.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE SYF traded down $0.97 on Monday, reaching $75.62. The company had a trading volume of 3,205,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,959,172. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average is $72.74 and its 200 day moving average is $62.29. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.54 and a 52-week high of $77.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.48.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is presently 14.56%.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.