Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.9333.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $55.00 price objective on Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler set a $48.00 target price on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Truist Financial news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $239,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Truist Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TFC. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Truist Financial by 60.5% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 60,849 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 22,934 shares in the last quarter. Farmers National Bank increased its stake in Truist Financial by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 54,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the third quarter worth $646,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 1.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 242,433 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,084,000 after buying an additional 3,668 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the third quarter valued at $614,000. 71.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TFC opened at $50.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Truist Financial has a 52 week low of $33.56 and a 52 week high of $50.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average of $44.87.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.20 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 16.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.91%.

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.