Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,174 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SYF. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 40.2% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. United Community Bank increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.4% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 4,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.0% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SYF shares. Compass Point upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.5%

SYF opened at $69.78 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $55.67 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.97. The firm has a market cap of $23.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.80%.The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 12.41%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 47,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $3,164,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 64,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,082.36. This trade represents a 42.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 3,865 shares of Synchrony Financial 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 $261,699.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,180,320.72. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 323,372 shares of company stock valued at $22,080,634. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.