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Strong Buying Opportunity: General Electric's Synchrony Financial Quiet Period Expiration
Don Dion Aug. 15, 2014 2:40 PM ET
Click For seekingalpha.com Article
Summary
The 40 day quiet period for SYF will conclude September 8, allowing SYF’s IPO underwriters to publish (likely positive) analyses of the GE consumer financial services spinoff.
This event could lead to positive, above-market returns for SYF in the days surrounding the quiet period expiration—a phenomena tracked in academia and our own research.
Though SYF got off to a rocky start, we remain optimistic on SYF moving forward, given impressive revenues and consumer spending moving in a positive direction.
The upcoming quiet period expiration may help to galvanize potential investors and present a strong buying opportunity.
Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) - Buy Recommendation - PT $23.75
The 40 day quiet period on underwriter reports that began with the July 30 IPO of Synchrony Financial will conclude on September 8, allowing the IPO underwriters to publish analyses of the GE (NYSE:GE) consumer financial services spinoff. SYF share prices will likely rise temporarily with the release of the underwriter analyses.
Early Market Performance: Boost on the Horizon
SYF's IPO priced at the low end of its expected price range at $23 per share on an overcrowded day of IPOs and has seen little change since, closing at its IPO price on August 12. August 13, however, saw a jump to $23.18.
(Nasdaq.com)
Impressive Underwriting Roster
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They are officially up and running now
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GE credit card unit Synchrony Financial prices IPO at $23 per share
Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:15pm EDT
Click For reuters.com Article
The logo of U.S. conglomerate General Electric is pictured at the company's site in Belfort, April 27, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/VINCENT KESSLER
(Reuters) - General Electric Co's (GE.N) credit card unit, Synchrony Financial (SYF.N), raised $2.88 billion in the biggest initial public offering so far this year, the company said on Wednesday.
The company's offering of 125 million shares was priced at $23 per share, at the low end of the price range of $23 to $26 per share, Synchrony said in a statement.
At that price, the company was valued at $19.1 billion. (bit.ly/1AAoPow)
The spin-off is a key part of GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt's plan to boost GE's earnings contribution from its industrials businesses to 75 percent by 2016, from 55 percent last year.
Synchrony's offering surpassed that of Ally Financial Inc (ALLY.N), which raised $2.4 billion in April.
Synchrony, which provides private label credit cards, dual cards and other credit products to partners including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Lowe's Co Inc (LOW.N), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Sam's Club, GAP Inc (GPS.N) and J C Penney Co Inc (JCP.N), generated two-thirds of its $9.42 billion revenue last year from its retail card business.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay debt, to increase capital and to invest in liquid assets, it said.
Goldman Sachs & Co, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities were the lead underwriters of the offering.
(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Diane Craft)
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Synchrony IPO Price Set Today; Here's What to Watch for as SYF Stock Hits Market
By KYLE ANDERSON, Associate Editor, Money Morning · July 30, 2014
Click For moneymorning.com Article
The Synchrony IPO price was set at $23 per share today (Wednesday), meaning the company raised $2.88 billion in its initial public offering.
Shares were priced at the low end of the previously proposed range of $23 to $26 per share. Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) had been expected to raise $3.1 billion.
At that price, Synchrony has a valuation of $19.2 billion.
While the IPO price was a disappointment for many, Synchrony still outpaced the second largest IPO of 2014, Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY), which raised $2.6 billion in April.
Synchrony Financial is a spin-off of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and is GE's consumer-finance arm. The company generates 69% of its revenue from its retail credit card segment, which counts Amazon.com Inc. (NYSE: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) as its largest partners.
In the Synchrony IPO filing, the company reported 2013 net interest income of $10.57 billion, which was an 11% increase from the previous year. The income spike was attributed to higher credit card spending and a decline in net charge-offs. A net charge-off, or "bad debt," is a loan that the company can't collect on.
While income was on the rise in 2013, profits were down. Synchrony reported profit of $2 billion, which was a 6.6% drop from the previous year. The company cited increased costs and a boost to its fund used to cover bad loans as reasons for down profit.
SYF stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow morning.
The lead underwriters on the deal include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).
The Synchrony Financial IPO takes place during the hottest year for IPOs since the Dot-Com era. According to Renaissance Capital, 168 IPOs have come to market in 2014, the highest number since 2000. Those 168 companies have averaged a first-day gain of 14%, and an overall return of 11.3% from their offer prices.
So a first-day gain for SYF tomorrow would fall in line with the overall IPO market of 2014, but potential investors will be looking past the IPO market when it comes to SYF stock's value...
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Synchrony IPO Gets a Tepid Reception
By MATT JARZEMSKY
Updated July 30, 2014 7:57 p.m. ET
Click For WSJ.com Article
Credit-card issuer Synchrony Financial's initial public offering, the biggest in the U.S. this year, priced at the low end of expectations, a sign of tepid demand for the latest company to offer investors a way to play the recovery in consumers' finances.
Stamford, Conn.-based Synchrony is being spun off from General Electric Co. GE -0.59% , the latest in a series of moves by the conglomerate to shrink its finance business. Synchrony is the largest issuer of so-called private label or store-branded credit cards, lending to the customers of retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.87% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +0.78%
These cards, administered by lenders but issued in the name of retailers and other partners, have seen greater increases in overall balances that general-purpose credit cards in recent years.
While some money managers say that growth is attractive, others worried that Synchrony's assets will be seen as lower-quality than those of peers such as Capital One Financial Corp. COF +0.46% and Discover Financial Services, DFS +0.34% issuers of their own name-brand credit cards.
A decline in net income at Synchrony last year and investor perception that private-label cards carry more credit risk represent potential headwinds for the stock, said Evan Staples, who covers financial companies as a senior research analyst at Nuveen Asset Management, which oversees $122 billion.
"The debate's going to be, how does this stack up to Capital One and Discover?" he said. He declined to say whether he would buy shares in Synchrony's offering.
Synchrony sold 125 million shares for $23 late Wednesday, according to people familiar with the offering, raising $2.88 billion. That could increase to $3.3 billion if underwriters exercise an option to sell additional shares, which would make the IPO the biggest by a U.S. company since Facebook Inc. FB -1.04% 's in May 2012, which raised $16 billion.
In 2013, Synchrony's profit fell 6.6% to $1.98 billion as higher costs and an increase in funds set aside to cover bad loans offset an increase in net interest income.
Moreover, the last two big consumer-finance IPOs haven't worked out for investors. The IPOs of auto lenders Ally Financial Inc. ALLY -2.12% and Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., SC +0.51% the two largest in the U.S. this year besides Synchrony's, raised $2.56 billion and $2.04 billion, respectively. But both stocks are trading below their IPO prices.
In issuing store-branded credit cards, Synchrony competes with the likes of Citigroup Inc., C +1.17% Alliance Data Systems Corp. ADS +0.91% and Wells Fargo WFC +1.09% & Co. Outstanding balances on U.S. private-label store credit cards stood at $93.7 billion in 2013, up 6% from a year earlier, according to the Nilson Report. Over the same period, outstanding balances for general-purpose cards rose just 3%.
Because Synchrony's closest peers are units of large diversified companies, investors say lenders like Capital One and Discover are more comparable. Both have substantial card businesses though Capital One in particular has diversified into retail banking, auto lending and other areas.
These companies have benefited from widespread loan growth and improved credit performance. Capital One's shares are up 6.5% this year, just shy of the S&P 500's 6.6% advance, while Discover has gained 12%.
But some say Synchrony's position in private-label cards helps it stand out. Synchrony's net interest income rose 11% to $10.57 billion in 2013, helped by higher spending on its cards and a decline in so-called net charge-offs, or loans that lenders don't think they will be able to collect.
"It's definitely an above-average growth profile," said Michael Mattioli, a senior analyst in John Hancock Asset Management's U.S. Core Value group, which manages about $13.5 billion.
"All the trends in consumer credit just keep getting better," he added. "We don't know how long that lasts for—everything's cyclical—but so far, it's excellent." Mr. Mattioli didn't comment on whether he would buy shares in Synchrony's IPO.
The deal adds to a flood of new share listings this year, fueled by persistent investor demand for U.S. stocks even as indexes are near all-time highs. In the year to date, 181 companies have gone public in New York, raising $39.1 billion. That is the most in like year-earlier periods since 2000, both in the number and dollar volumes of offerings.
Additionally, Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is plotting a U.S. listing that could raise more than $20 billion in September, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Synchrony is due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday under the symbol "SYF." Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +0.13% is leading the offering with J.P. Morgan Chase JPM +0.46% & Co., Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. MS +2.11%
Corrections & Amplifications
Synchrony shares priced at $23 each Wednesday. An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the shares priced in a range of $23 to $26.
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