Todd Asset Management LLC Sells 82,788 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Key Points

• Todd Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 17.8% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.10% of the company.
• Synchrony Financial reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.50, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 14.43% despite a 1.8% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with the payment scheduled for August 15th.

Todd Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 82,788 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC owned 0.10% of Synchrony Financial worth $20,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,336,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 103,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,697,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 12.0% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SYF. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Cfra Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of SYF stock traded up $2.74 on Tuesday, hitting $72.34. The stock had a trading volume of 4,515,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,690,912. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.17. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.49. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $40.54 and a one year high of $73.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is presently 14.56%.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 108,062 shares in the company, valued at $7,024,030. The trade was a 9.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 21,372 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,133 shares of company stock valued at $3,817,635. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.