Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Price Target Cut to $51.50 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) had its price objective decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $57.00 to $51.50 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on TFC. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.41.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:TFC opened at $47.85 on Tuesday. Truist Financial has a 1 year low of $33.82 and a 1 year high of $56.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

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

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

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 54.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. The trade was a 83.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,725,811.99. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 329,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 29,191 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,591,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $209,936,000 after purchasing an additional 427,067 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 336,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,366,000 after purchasing an additional 36,916 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 169,030 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,728,000 after purchasing an additional 26,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 421,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,285,000 after purchasing an additional 10,706 shares during the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.