Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) Receives $54.75 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.75.

TFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Truist Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Truist Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Truist Financial from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st.

Truist Financial Trading Up 0.0%

TFC stock opened at $47.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.87. Truist Financial has a one year low of $33.56 and a one year high of $56.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.63.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during 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%. Truist Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, 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 approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Truist Financial news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Truist Financial by 4,821.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 14,172,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,428,000 after buying an additional 13,884,480 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 valued at $474,886,000 after acquiring an additional 10,310,523 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Truist Financial in the fourth quarter worth $502,340,000. American Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Truist Financial by 781.3% in the fourth quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,384,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $166,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Truist Financial by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,500,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $516,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,449 shares in the last quarter. 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.