Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Increases Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,200 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.07% of Synchrony Financial worth $18,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $650,678,000 after acquiring an additional 205,641 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $347,903,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 340.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,512,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,303,000 after buying an additional 1,942,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SYF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Cfra Research upgraded Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SYF traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.98. 4,112,681 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,952,958. The stock's 50-day moving average is $52.26 and its 200-day moving average is $60.29. 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 fifty-two week low of $40.55 and a fifty-two week high of $70.93. The company has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

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.