Stock for large Kettering financial company takes hit

Synchrony Financial’s stock dropped dramatically this week following the company’s warning to investors and analysts that the credit-card issuer sees rising defaults.

Synchrony Financial employs around 1,700 employees at its Kettering location on Forrer Boulevard. The company announced in February it was adding 200 employees to the location in 2016.

The Kettering location is the company’s largest site in the United States, company officials have said.

Following the warning on Tuesday, Synchrony shares were down by 14 percent by the end of the day. The news also hit other credit card companies, with Discover Financial Services down around 3 percent and Capital One Financial falling around 5 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Synchrony officials told analysts the problem with defaults could go beyond their company. Consumers seem to have generally suffered a decline in their ability to pay debts, they said, possibly because they have taken on more auto and student loans, the Wall Street Journal reported.

LIKE OUR DAYTON BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE

Today, Synchrony’s stock was trading at $27.11 a share at noon, up from $26.59 at the beginning of trading but down from $30.45 Tuesday morning.

Synchrony oversees "private label" credit cards for some 300,000 merchant and retail businesses in some 400,000 locations, companies like H.H. Gregg, Walmart, Amazon and your local Morris Furniture and Tire Discounters dealers, among many others.

When a shopper buys, say, a TV at H.H. Gregg and finances that purchase with an H.H. Gregg credit card, Synchrony is involved.

About the Author