Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Raised to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $69.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $56.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on TFC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Argus boosted their price target on Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $55.00 price objective on Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Truist Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.47.

Truist Financial Price Performance

TFC opened at $52.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.19. 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.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. 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 authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $239,682.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,660 shares of company stock worth $1,075,087. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Sparrow LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,858,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Truist Financial by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 217,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,697,000 after acquiring an additional 29,595 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,055,784 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $248,879,000 after purchasing an additional 109,703 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 17,863 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 9,661 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the fourth quarter worth $1,075,000. Hedge funds and other 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.