Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Releases Earnings Results

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF – Get Rating) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The financial services provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.14, RTT News reports. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 24.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $35.37 on Wednesday. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $47.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.43. The company has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Barclays downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Margaret M. Keane sold 68,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $2,495,468.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 762,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,841,689. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Margaret M. Keane sold 68,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $2,495,468.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 762,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,841,689. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Carol Juel sold 31,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $1,252,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 55,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,237,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,123,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,786,000 after buying an additional 484,220 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 853.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,218,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,471,000 after buying an additional 5,566,481 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,280,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,185,000 after buying an additional 58,399 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,172,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.9% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,254,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,659,000 after buying an additional 91,576 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.97% of the company’s stock.

About Synchrony Financial

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Synchrony Financial engages in the provision of consumer financial services. It operates through three sales platforms: Retail Card, Payment Solutions, and CareCredit. The Retail Card platform is a provider of private label credit cards, and also provides Dual Cards and small-and medium-sized business credit products.