Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 34,744 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Synovus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,209,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Synovus Financial by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,065,249 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,573,000 after buying an additional 738,983 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Synovus Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,041,625 shares of the bank's stock valued at $616,892,000 after buying an additional 415,201 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Synovus Financial by 349.4% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 529,147 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,108,000 after buying an additional 411,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,380,098 shares of the bank's stock worth $70,702,000 after purchasing an additional 337,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.85% of the company's stock.

Synovus Financial Stock Performance

SNV traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.50. 777,472 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,408,428. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.45. Synovus Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.81 and a fifty-two week high of $59.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $573.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $572.35 million. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 14.05%. As a group, analysts predict that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Synovus Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Synovus Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SNV. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $64.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $67.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Synovus Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Synovus Financial from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synovus Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.11.

Synovus Financial Profile

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.