Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $52.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

TFC has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Truist Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley raised Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Truist Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.47.

Truist Financial Price Performance

NYSE TFC opened at $45.67 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87. Truist Financial has a 1 year low of $33.56 and a 1 year high of $56.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.73.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.59%.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in Truist Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 1,189.5% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. 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.