Highland Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 0.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $7,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYF. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 36.3% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 355.9% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SYF. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total transaction of $40,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,227.40. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $595,980.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 68,588 shares in the company, valued at $4,801,160. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $71.24 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.50. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.54 and a 1-year high of $77.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 14.56%.

About Synchrony Financial

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.