Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) is Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s 5th Largest Position

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP cut its holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,500,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,800,000 shares during the quarter. Synchrony Financial comprises approximately 4.9% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned about 1.75% of Synchrony Financial worth $218,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delphia USA Inc. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Delphia USA Inc. now owns 9,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.3% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. 94.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David P. Melito sold 15,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $525,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $488,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 15,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $525,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $488,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 36,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $1,263,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 565,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,500,780. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Synchrony Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $41.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $44.00 to $43.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Monday, hitting $31.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,505,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,279,415. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.89. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $26.59 and a 1 year high of $40.88.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 19.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.52%.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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 cards, 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 to retail and commercial customers, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.