SEB Asset Management AB Takes Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 151,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,312,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 22,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.32.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $73.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $63.08 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.30.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. The company 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 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.