Synchrony Financial (SYF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on May 15th

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

Synchrony Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Synchrony Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 17.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.5%.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $44.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.56 and a 200-day moving average of $36.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $26.59 and a 52 week high of $45.33.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19). Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares in the company, valued at $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total value of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.