Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.75.

Several analysts recently weighed in on TFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Truist Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barclays downgraded Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Truist Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE TFC opened at $47.18 on Friday. Truist Financial has a 1 year low of $33.56 and a 1 year high of $56.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.14 and a 200 day moving average of $47.57. The stock has a market cap of $58.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Truist Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 54.59%.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Truist Financial

In other news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Truist Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Maseco LLP raised its position in Truist Financial by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Maseco LLP now owns 652 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

About Truist Financial

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.