C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. Purchases Shares of 5,075 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $347,903,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 71.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,378,000 after purchasing an additional 469,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SYF. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.10.

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Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded up $1.85 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,212,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,832,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $39.67 and a one year high of $70.93. The business's fifty day moving average price is $60.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.71%.

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.