Royal Bank of Canada Raises BB&T (BBT) Price Target to $59.00

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada to $59.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.66% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Sandler O’Neill set a $55.00 target price on shares of BB&T and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upgraded BB&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. FBR & Co set a $48.00 price target on BB&T and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded BB&T from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded BB&T from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.81.

Shares of BB&T (NYSE:BBT) traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.80. 5,735,440 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,750,000. The company has a market capitalization of $43,230.00, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.85. BB&T has a fifty-two week low of $41.17 and a fifty-two week high of $55.70.

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.86 billion. BB&T had a net margin of 19.25% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. equities research analysts predict that BB&T will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider Robert Jerome Johnson, Jr. sold 12,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total value of $589,428.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Donna C. Goodrich sold 26,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.13, for a total value of $1,320,073.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,861,077.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,295 shares of company stock worth $3,347,679. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BB&T in the second quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC boosted its position in BB&T by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Highstreet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in BB&T by 105.3% in the third quarter. Highstreet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,053 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in BB&T by 7,184.0% in the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 3,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation boosted its position in BB&T by 120.5% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation now owns 3,704 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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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)