Aflac, Synovus, TSYS stocks ride GOP tax bill wave to new highs
On a day that the Dow Jones soared past 24,000 points for the first time ever, the stocks of three major companies headquartered in Columbus enjoyed the euphoric ride Thursday, with two of them tasting new highs for the year.
The Dow reaching 24,272 and the S&P 500 also climbing upward was largely attributed to overall positive U.S. economic news punctuated by gaining momentum for passage of a Republican-led tax reform bill that businesses see as a benefit to them financially due to its tax cuts. The bill garnered the support of U.S. Sen. John McCain, potentially ensuring it will become reality.
Thursday also was the second day in a row that the stocks of Columbus-based Aflac and Synovus reached 52-week highs, with TSYS also pushing to within 15 cents of its trading high for the year on the New York Stock Exchange.
Breaking down each firm’s stock performance Thursday, shares of Aflac, a supplemental health and life insurer that does business in the U.S. and Japan, jumped to $88.10 before giving a bit of that back to close at $87.66 per share. The $88.10 high is a more than 32 percent increase from the stock’s $66.50 low over the past year.
After rising on Wednesday, Regional banking firm Synovus Financial Corp. saw its stock dip 30 cents Thursday, closing at $49.64, but not before posting a year’s high of $50.49 per share. That high mark is a gain of 33 percent from the year’s low of $37.95 per share for the parent company of Columbus Bank and Trust.
The stock of credit-card and payment processor TSYS was the biggest local gainer on the day, with its shares leaping $2.04, or just under 3 percent, to close at $74.37. However, earlier in trading its stock touched $74.57, which is just off the stock’s high of $74.72 over the past 12 months. That’s nearly 59 percent higher than its low for the past year of $47.01.
This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Aflac, Synovus, TSYS stocks ride GOP tax bill wave to new highs."