Synchrony Financial Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SYF)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 8,058 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 436% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,502 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $70.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 758,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,939,078. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $63.08 and a one year high of $88.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.97.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 15.44%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.250-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.93%.

Institutional Trading of Synchrony Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth about $2,349,452,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,122,961,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $209,305,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $193,684,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $186,973,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that provides credit products and related services through partnerships with retailers, manufacturers, healthcare providers and other businesses. The company is best known for private-label credit cards and dual-use credit cards that allow consumers to finance purchases with participating brands.

Synchrony’s offerings also include promotional financing, installment loans and other consumer payment solutions. Its products support spending across areas such as retail, home improvement, consumer electronics, healthcare, automotive and lifestyle purchases.