Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $72.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous price target of $59.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.99% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SYF. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.68.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE SYF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $67.93. 4,537,202 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,939,001. The business's 50 day moving average is $59.42 and its 200-day moving average is $51.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $35.12 and a 12-month high of $69.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.8% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,694,000 after purchasing an additional 19,098 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the first quarter worth $2,192,000. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 957,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,773,000 after buying an additional 177,051 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $951,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 134.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

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.