Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Receives $87.89 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.8889.

SYF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF stock opened at $79.51 on Thursday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $63.08 and a 52 week high of $88.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 23.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.250-9.500 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.93%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,349,452,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,080,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,698,000 after purchasing an additional 191,920 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 34.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $907,356,000 after buying an additional 3,494,741 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,230,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,778,000 after buying an additional 442,226 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 6.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,039,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,760,000 after buying an additional 365,353 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.