Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,800 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned approximately 0.10% of Synchrony Financial worth $22,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.6% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 22,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $72.49 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.78. The firm has a market cap of $24.38 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.32. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $88.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 9.33 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SYF. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.21.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.