Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barclays boosted its price target on Synchrony to $93 (from $82) and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly an 18% upside from the current share price.
• Synchrony beat Q1 EPS estimates ($2.27 vs. $2.14) but missed revenue ($3.70B vs. $3.81B, down ~7.4% YoY); the company set FY2026 EPS guidance of 9.10–9.50 and its board approved a $6.5 billion share repurchase alongside a planned dividend increase (from $0.30 to $0.34).
• Insiders have sold about 379,928 shares (~$26.2M) in the last three months, leaving insiders with 0.33% ownership while institutional investors hold roughly 96.48% of the stock.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Barclays from $82.00 to $93.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.04% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.74.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:SYF traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.78. 498,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,453,684. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.39. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $49.50 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 7,882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $533,690.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 94,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,423,850.83. This represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 47,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $3,164,041.92. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 64,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,313,082.36. The trade was a 42.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 379,928 shares of company stock valued at $26,170,764 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 65,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 7,070 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,204,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 26,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

More Synchrony Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Synchrony Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a $6.5 billion share repurchase program and announced plans to raise the quarterly dividend (announced $0.30 now, planned increase to $0.34), a capital-return signal that typically supports the stock. PR Newswire: Q1 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 EPS beat street estimates: $2.27 vs. $2.14 expected (YoY EPS improvement), driven by purchase-volume growth and NIM strength — supports near-term earnings outlook. Earnings Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: New co-branded and private-label card programs with Chico’s FAS (Chico’s, Soma, White House Black Market) expand Synchrony’s merchant partnerships and rewards footprint — a revenue-growth avenue. Chico's FAS Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Synchrony’s CFO flagged ongoing momentum in consumer spending and card usage — a constructive tone but qualitative; useful context for future quarters. PYMNTS: CFO Comments
• Neutral Sentiment: Company published monthly credit-performance metrics (charge-offs, delinquencies) — important for credit risk monitoring but no single shock disclosed in the update. TipRanks: Credit Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG Research downgraded SYF from “buy” to “neutral,” which can pressure the stock by reducing buy-side enthusiasm. Benzinga: BTIG Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations: Q1 revenue $3.70B vs. $3.81B est and was down ~7.4% YoY; deposits also declined per commentary — these operational headwinds may temper enthusiasm despite EPS beat. Zacks: Q1 Results

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial NYSE: SYF is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants' checkout experiences.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.