Estate Counselors LLC Takes $1.78 Million Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth $26,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of SYF opened at $75.26 on Tuesday. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $63.08 and a 12 month high of $88.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.38 and its 200-day moving average is $72.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 15.44%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.250-9.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.30%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.