Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Price Target Raised to $59.00

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) had its target price boosted by TD Cowen from $55.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Barclays downgraded shares of Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Truist Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.80.

Truist Financial Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:TFC opened at $50.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 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 0.86. Truist Financial has a 52-week low of $33.56 and a 52-week high of $51.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.70 and a 200 day moving average of $45.74.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 16.84%.The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.91%.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $239,682.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Truist Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $487,401,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 buying an additional 10,310,523 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Truist Financial by 203.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,176,000 after buying an additional 2,625,847 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Truist Financial in the third quarter worth about $115,417,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Truist Financial by 4,121.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,335,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,424,000 after buying an additional 2,280,653 shares during the period. 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.