Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Buys Shares of 23,825 Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBT. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Beacon Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BBT opened at $28.82 on Friday. Beacon Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.81 and a fifty-two week high of $32.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.13). Beacon Financial had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $214.72 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Beacon Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Beacon Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 106.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total transaction of $538,016.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $793,227.20. This represents a 40.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Beacon Financial from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Hovde Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Beacon Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.75.

Beacon Financial Profile

Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health Truist Financial Corp.