Wells Fargo & Company Trims Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) Target Price to $40.00

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

SNV has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Synovus Financial from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Synovus Financial from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson restated a buy rating on shares of Synovus Financial in a research note on Monday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $46.00) on shares of Synovus Financial in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Synovus Financial from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.53.

Synovus Financial Price Performance

Shares of SNV stock opened at $34.91 on Friday. Synovus Financial has a twelve month low of $24.40 and a twelve month high of $40.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.20). Synovus Financial had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 13.29%. The firm had revenue of $537.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Synovus Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Synovus Financial will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synovus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Synovus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.05%.

Insider Activity at Synovus Financial

In other news, EVP Thomas T. Dierdorff sold 2,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.23, for a total value of $78,180.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,817.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Thomas T. Dierdorff sold 2,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.23, for a total value of $78,180.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,817.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Tim E. Bentsen sold 4,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.62, for a total value of $180,394.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,144 shares in the company, valued at $1,280,021.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SNV. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $7,115,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Synovus Financial by 46.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 957,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,631,000 after acquiring an additional 301,604 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial during the third quarter worth about $1,025,000. rhino investment partners Inc acquired a new stake in Synovus Financial during the third quarter worth about $5,984,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Synovus Financial by 17.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 437,126 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,151,000 after acquiring an additional 65,434 shares during the period. 83.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.