Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial is a large US consumer finance company specializing in private-label and co-branded credit cards issued through partnerships with retailers, and it also offers consumer financing and savings products. Its results are closely tied to consumer credit health, spending and the level of loan losses across the cycle. Synchrony has paid and grown its dividend for over a decade since its spin-off from GE, supplementing it with substantial buybacks funded by solid earnings. The yield is modest and the payout is well covered in good times, but as a lender it faces credit-cycle risk if consumer defaults rise. It offers a reasonable, growing dividend with sensitivity to the consumer credit environment.