Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $76.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SNV. Citigroup set a $59.00 target price on shares of Synovus Financial in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Synovus Financial in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on Synovus Financial from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Synovus Financial from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Synovus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Synovus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.78.

Synovus Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of SNV opened at $49.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. Synovus Financial has a one year low of $33.44 and a one year high of $59.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.14. Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $564.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Synovus Financial will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. Synovus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 12.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,674,226 shares of the bank’s stock worth $430,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,557 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Synovus Financial by 181.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,302,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,343,000 after purchasing an additional 838,932 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Synovus Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,626,424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,027,000 after buying an additional 598,644 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Synovus Financial by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,762,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,597,000 after buying an additional 491,036 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Synovus Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $19,434,000. 83.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Synovus Financial

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.