Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 68,816 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,237 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $3,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 148.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 23,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 14,093 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Truist Financial by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 111,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 31,454 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the second quarter worth $575,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Truist Financial by 4.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 235,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,103,000 after purchasing an additional 9,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in Truist Financial by 9.5% during the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 23,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TFC opened at $45.90 on Wednesday. Truist Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.56 and a 1 year high of $56.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.58. The company has a market capitalization of $56.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.87. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is currently 54.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Truist Financial news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total value of $183,715.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,725,811.99. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TFC has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.75.

Truist Financial 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.