Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC)

Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 163,742 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 837% compared to the typical daily volume of 17,467 call options.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TFC opened at $39.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.84, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.07. Truist Financial has a one year low of $26.49 and a one year high of $40.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Truist Financial had a negative net margin of 4.28% and a positive return on equity of 9.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Truist Financial will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is currently -157.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In related news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 3,764 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.48, for a total transaction of $141,074.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,627.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Truist Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,271,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,355,141,000 after acquiring an additional 365,871 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Truist Financial by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,238,388 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $690,793,000 after buying an additional 1,458,248 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Truist Financial by 5.0% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,384,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $440,162,000 after buying an additional 732,801 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,364,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $439,568,000 after buying an additional 39,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Truist Financial by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,731,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $322,395,000 after acquiring an additional 883,416 shares in the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on TFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Truist Financial from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.06.

Truist Financial Company Profile

Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings. Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.