Evercore ISI Boosts Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target to $47.00

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.00% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.24.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.12. 4,141,893 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,518,288. The company has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $26.59 and a twelve month high of $43.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106 in the last quarter. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SYF. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 853.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,218,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $216,471,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,481 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $182,739,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900,216 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $61,172,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

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.