Synovus (SNV) Rewards Shareholders With 3% Dividend Hike
Synovus Financial SNV hiked its quarterly dividend 3% from the prior-quarter payout to 34 cents per share. The new dividend will be paid out on Apr 1, to its shareholders of record as of Mar 17, 2022.
Since March 2014, Synovus has raised its dividend eight times. Its dividend was last hiked in January 2020 by 10% to 33 cents per share. This reflects SNV’s commitment to return shareholders’ funds with its strong cash-generation capabilities.
Based on the increased rate, the annual dividend came to $1.88 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%, considering Synovus’s closing price of $48.25 as of Mar 4. The yield is not only attractive to income investors but also represents a steady income stream.
Also, in 2021, SNV completed share repurchases totaling $200 million. Such capital-deployment activities are part of Synovus’s long-term strategy to boost shareholder value.
Investors interested in this currently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock can have a look at its fundamentals and growth opportunities. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Value Score: Synovus currently has a Value Score of B. The Value Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score that helps investors steer clear of the “value traps” and identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount.
Earnings Strength: SNV’s ability to sustain the capital deployments also depends on its earnings growth. Its past performance depicts a robust earnings picture. Synovus recorded an earnings growth rate of 19% over the last five years compared with 16.2% growth witnessed by the industry it belongs to. With its earnings momentum, the earnings growth rate is anticipated to be around 12.8% for the next year compared with 12.6% for the industry. Furthermore, its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average being 20.4%. If this momentum continues in the upcoming period, such capital deployments are here to stay.
Revenue Growth: Synovus is focused on its organic growth strategy. Loans witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.2% in the last five years (2017-2021). In addition, total deposits saw a CAGR of 13.4% over the past three years ended 2021, backed by continued growth in core transaction deposit accounts. With commercial loan pipelines returning to pre-COVID levels and the U.S. economy on the mend, the lending scenario is expected to improve in the upcoming period. The company’s projected sales growth (F1/F0) of 3.4% (against nil industry average) also indicates continued betterment of revenues.
Return on Equity (ROE): Synovus’ ROE of 16.2% compared with the industry average of 11.3% highlights its commendable position over its peers.
Synovus has inched up 0.8% year to date against the industry’s fall of 3.4%.
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Stocks to Consider
Over the past few months, several companies have rewarded their shareholders with dividend hikes. Some of these are Northrim BanCorp NRIM, Farmers National Banc Corp. FMNB and Cohen & Steers CNS.
Northrim approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of 41 cents per share, up 7.9% from its prior payout.
The dividend will be paid out on Mar 18, to its shareholders of record as of Mar 10, 2022. Prior to this, NRIM hiked its dividend in August 2021 by 2.7% to 38 cents.
Farmers National announced a hike in its quarterly dividend. The bank okayed a dividend of 16 cents per share, representing a 14.3% sequential raise, and more than 45% increase year-over-year. The dividend will be paid out on Mar 31 to its shareholders of record as of Mar 11, 2022.
The recent dividend hike marks the 7th consecutive quarter of an increase by Farmers National. Before this, FMNB hiked the dividend 27% to 14 cents per share.
Cohen & Steers announced a hike in its quarterly dividend. CNS’ board of directors declared a first-quarter 2022 cash dividend of 55 cents per share, marking an increase of 22.2% from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on Mar 17 to its shareholders of record as of Mar 7.
CNS has been increasing its dividends annually since 2011. Prior to this hike, the company announced a 15.4% increase in its quarterly dividend, bringing the total to 45 cents per share in February 2021.
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Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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