Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 14.9%, acquiring an additional 66,543 shares, bringing its total holdings to 512,576 shares worth approximately $27.14 million.
• Synchrony Financial reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.72, but saw a 1.8% decrease in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.65%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 5th.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 66,543 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.13% of Synchrony Financial worth $27,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 103,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,697,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake 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 worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 108,062 shares in the company, valued at $7,024,030. This trade represents a 9.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total value of $2,441,184.73. Following the transaction, the insider owned 146,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,807,943.96. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SYF shares. BTIG Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.3%

NYSE:SYF traded down $2.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.39. The company had a trading volume of 2,448,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,132,347. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.23 and a 200 day moving average of $60.20. The company has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.46. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $40.54 and a 1 year high of $73.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.