Evercore Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Stock

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Evercore from $58.00 to $64.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Evercore’s target price points to a potential upside of 14.57% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on TFC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.60.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:TFC opened at $55.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $71.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.71. Truist Financial has a fifty-two week low of $33.56 and a fifty-two week high of $56.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total transaction of $239,682.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, valued at $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,660 shares of company stock worth $1,075,087. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Truist Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $487,401,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 13,511.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,386,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $474,886,000 after buying an additional 10,310,523 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $166,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Truist Financial by 203.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,918,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $179,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $115,417,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.