Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $86.89, but opened at $79.26. Synchrony Financial shares last traded at $80.4980, with a volume of 2,074,908 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.47.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.11.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 22.96%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total transaction of $591,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,402.17. The trade was a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $221,245.78. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,425.92. The trade was a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYF. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 36.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 35,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after buying an additional 9,460 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.7% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth $2,097,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.