Plato Investment Management Ltd Takes $2.23 Million Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,232,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.89.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $80.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.58 and a 200-day moving average of $72.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.32. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $63.08 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.45. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 15.44%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.250-9.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.93%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial 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.