Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.19 EPS

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.05. 2,417,427 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,494,440. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.70. The firm has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.61. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.59 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 19.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.65% 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.