Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Raised to “Moderate Sell” at Jefferies Financial Group

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “moderate sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Argus boosted their price objective on Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Truist Financial Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of TFC opened at $44.88 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.87. Truist Financial has a 52 week low of $33.56 and a 52 week 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.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Truist Financial

In other Truist Financial news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $651,690.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Truist Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFC. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Truist Financial by 9.7% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 329,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 29,191 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Truist Financial by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,591,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $209,936,000 after buying an additional 427,067 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 336,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,366,000 after buying an additional 36,916 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 169,030 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,728,000 after acquiring an additional 26,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 421,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,285,000 after acquiring an additional 10,706 shares in the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Truist Financial Company Profile

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.