Curtis Howse Sells 31,562 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) insider Curtis Howse sold 31,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,042 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,446,890. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Curtis Howse also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 15th, Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $46.24. The company had a trading volume of 3,643,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,461,961. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.27 and a 200 day moving average of $37.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $46.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $241,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,262 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $167,187,000 after purchasing an additional 755,856 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,973,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,040,000 after purchasing an additional 178,344 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $182,739,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,826,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,112,000 after buying an additional 730,318 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SYF shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.74.

About Synchrony Financial

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.