Shell Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,866 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $4,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 111.5% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 151.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SYF shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of SYF stock traded down $0.77 on Monday, hitting $60.03. 3,001,421 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,937,386. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $40.55 and a one year high of $70.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.46%.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $2,441,184.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,807,943.96. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.