Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%.

Synchrony Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.9% annually over the last three years. Synchrony Financial has a payout ratio of 16.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Synchrony Financial to earn $6.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.8%.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $55.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,616,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,942,513. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.42 and a 1-year high of $57.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.01 and a 200 day moving average of $46.94. The company has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at $2,510,987.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.25.

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.