Ascent Group LLC Purchases 12,572 Shares of Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,508 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,572 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $1,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 13,511.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,386,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $474,886,000 after acquiring an additional 10,310,523 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Truist Financial by 203.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $179,176,000 after buying an additional 2,625,847 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in Truist Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $115,417,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Truist Financial by 164.0% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 2,308,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,490,000 after buying an additional 1,433,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Truist Financial by 71.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,165,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,065,000 after buying an additional 1,323,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

Truist Financial Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE TFC opened at $47.59 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.64. Truist Financial Corporation has a one year low of $33.56 and a one year high of $56.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $59.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last posted 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 $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.59%.

Truist Financial announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.15% 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.