Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 507,886 Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 507,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,393,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.61% of Beacon Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBT. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $253,245,000. State Street Corp bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $133,275,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $128,643,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $128,568,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $59,873,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Beacon Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBT opened at $29.34 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.96. Beacon Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.81 and a 52-week high of $32.83.

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

Beacon Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Beacon Financial’s payout ratio is presently 106.61%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BBT. Zacks Research cut Beacon Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Hovde Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set 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 target on Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Beacon Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Beacon Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.75.

Beacon Financial Company 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.