Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires 92,705 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 105.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 92,705 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $11,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $650,678,000 after buying an additional 205,641 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $347,903,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $336,942,000 after buying an additional 1,093,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF traded up $0.31 on Monday, reaching $54.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,185,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,941,969. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.81 and a 200-day moving average of $60.28.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.95.

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.