Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 25,653 Shares of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) by 247.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,009 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 25,653 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Synovus Financial were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SNV. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Synovus Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Synovus Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 103,480 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,301,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Synovus Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,401 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Synovus Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. 83.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNV has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Synovus Financial from $60.50 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Synovus Financial in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Synovus Financial from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Synovus Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Synovus Financial in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synovus Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.67.

Synovus Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SNV opened at $47.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Synovus Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $33.44 and a 1 year high of $59.92. The company has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.04.

Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.09. Synovus Financial had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $580.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Synovus Financial Corp. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Synovus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Synovus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Synovus Financial’s payout ratio is 51.15%.

Synovus Financial Company Profile

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.