Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Authorizes Stock Buyback Plan

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.72.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

SYF stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, hitting $44.66. 4,711,195 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,524,034. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $26.59 and a 52-week high of $45.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.