Ascent Group LLC Grows Holdings in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,508 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,572 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $1,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Truist Financial by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 17,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. First American Bank grew its position in Truist Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. First American Bank now owns 30,326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Truist Financial by 345.6% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in Truist Financial by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 12,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 9,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on TFC. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus upped their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Truist Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.75.

Truist Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TFC opened at $47.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.64. Truist Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.56 and a twelve month high of $56.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Truist Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.59%.

Truist Financial Profile

Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company that provides a broad range of financial services through its primary subsidiary, Truist Bank, and other operating units. The company offers traditional retail banking products and services such as deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, and credit and debit card services. Truist also serves commercial clients with middle-market and corporate lending, treasury and payment solutions, and specialty finance products.

Beyond core banking, Truist operates wealth management, asset management, insurance and capital markets businesses.