Norges Bank Takes $347.90 Million Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,352,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $347,903,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.37% of Synchrony Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 607 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $791,000. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 70,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 65.8% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 44,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 17,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SYF. Barclays upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.35.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF traded down $8.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $46.87. 2,623,538 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,823,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $39.67 and a twelve month high of $70.93. The company has a market cap of $18.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.67.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is presently 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.