Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.75.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Hovde Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Beacon Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Beacon Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th.

Beacon Financial Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BBT opened at $29.77 on Tuesday. Beacon Financial has a 1 year low of $22.81 and a 1 year high of $32.83. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.74 and its 200 day moving average is $29.04.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last announced its quarterly 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). Beacon Financial had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $214.72 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Beacon Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Beacon Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.61%.

Beacon Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire 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.

Institutional Trading of Beacon Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBT. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Beacon Financial by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 626,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,783,000 after acquiring an additional 13,249 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Beacon Financial by 146.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 49,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after buying an additional 29,636 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Beacon Financial by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 101,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 21,870 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Beacon Financial by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 36,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Beacon Financial by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 331,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,932,000 after purchasing an additional 22,180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

About Beacon Financial

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.