Weiss Asset Management LP Acquires New Position in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 21,536 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $958,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Synovus Financial by 181.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,302,379 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,343,000 after purchasing an additional 838,932 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,626,424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $517,027,000 after acquiring an additional 598,644 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,762,983 shares of the bank's stock valued at $231,597,000 after acquiring an additional 491,036 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synovus Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,434,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,561,056 shares of the bank's stock valued at $294,255,000 after acquiring an additional 201,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SNV. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Synovus Financial from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Synovus Financial in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synovus Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Synovus Financial Price Performance

Shares of SNV traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $54.84. 1,437,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,388,973. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $33.44 and a 1-year high of $59.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.54 and a 200-day moving average of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.38.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.14. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The firm had revenue of $564.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Synovus Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.78%.

About Synovus Financial

Synovus Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Synovus Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. It operates through four segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Consumer Banking, and Financial Management Services. The company's commercial banking services include treasury and asset management, capital market, and institutional trust services, as well as commercial, financial, and real estate lending services.