Five Credit Services Stocks That Hedge Funds Love

#4. Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

– Investors with long positions as of March 31: 67

– Aggregate value of investors’ positions as of March 31: $3.45 Billion

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) fell out of favor with the asset managers followed by our team during the first three months of 2016, when the number of managers with stakes in the company plummeted to 67 from 82 quarter-over-quarter. Similarly, the overall value of those stakes fell 20% quarter-on-quarter to $3.45 billion, partially owing to a 6% drop in the value of Synchrony’s shares. The 67 money managers invested in General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)’s former consumer credit card business, which was spun off in July 2014, amassed nearly 15% of the Synchrony’s total number of outstanding shares. The U.S. credit-card company has seen its market value gain nearly 4% so far in 2016. Synchrony’s interest income for the first three months of 2016 grew 11.7% year-on-year to $3.52 billion due to growth in its average loan receivables. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC upped its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 60% during the March quarter to 9.31 million shares.

#3. Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA)

– Investors with long positions as of March 31: 80

– Aggregate value of investors’ positions as of March 31: $6.22 Billion

While the number of money managers from our system with equity investments in Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) remained at 80 during the January-March period, the aggregate value of those investments grew to $6.22 billion from $6.01 billion quarter-over-quarter despite a 3% decline in the share price of MasterCard’s stock. The branded credit-card company has a long track of impressive capital gains, as well as quarterly dividend distributions to shareholders. MasterCard has seen its market cap gain 263% in the past five years and 5% in the past year alone. China issued new rules earlier this week that will enable foreign payment card companies such as MasterCard to operate in the world’s second-largest economy, which has an estimated card payment market of roughly $8.4 trillion. The rules issued by the central bank and the China Banking Regulatory Commission require foreign companies to hold roughly $152 million in registered capital in a local company. Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital has 5.08 million shares of Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) in its portfolio as of the end of the first quarter.