Morgan Stanley Upgrades BB&T (BBT) to Equal Weight

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. FBR & Co set a $48.00 target price on BB&T and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. Stephens raised BB&T from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of BB&T in a report on Sunday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BB&T from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered BB&T from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. BB&T currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.67.

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) opened at $51.23 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $40,420.00, a PE ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. BB&T has a 1-year low of $41.17 and a 1-year high of $51.64.

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. BB&T had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 19.42%. BB&T’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. sell-side analysts anticipate that BB&T will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, insider Christopher L. Henson sold 42,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total value of $2,008,601.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 207,620 shares in the company, valued at $9,874,407.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donna C. Goodrich sold 10,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.77, for a total value of $505,069.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,206,702.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,150 shares of company stock worth $8,712,859 in the last quarter. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sii Investments Inc. WI lifted its position in BB&T by 0.9% during the second quarter. Sii Investments Inc. WI now owns 6,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in BB&T by 0.5% during the second quarter. Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in BB&T by 0.8% during the second quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 11,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Chemical Bank increased its stake in BB&T by 2.2% during the second quarter. Chemical Bank now owns 4,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in BB&T by 2.6% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: This story was reported by American Market News and is the sole property of of American Market News. If you are accessing this story on another publication, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of U.S. and international trademark and copyright legislation. The original version of this story can be viewed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2018/01/08/morgan-stanley-upgrades-bbt-bbt-to-equal-weight.html.

About BB&T

BB&T Corporation is a financial holding company. The Company conducts its business operations primarily through its bank subsidiary, Branch Banking and Trust Company (Branch Bank), and other nonbank subsidiaries. Its segments include Community Banking, Residential Mortgage Banking, Dealer Financial Services, Specialized Lending, Insurance Holdings and Financial Services.

The Fly

Analyst Recommendations for BB&T (NYSE:BBT)