Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $43.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Stephens raised Truist Financial from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America raised Truist Financial from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Truist Financial from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Truist Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Truist Financial from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $41.97.

Truist Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TFC opened at $37.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.75. Truist Financial has a 52-week low of $25.56 and a 52-week high of $39.29.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Truist Financial had a positive return on equity of 9.15% and a negative net margin of 4.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Truist Financial will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is -157.58%.

Insider Transactions at Truist Financial

In other news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 3,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.48, for a total value of $141,074.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,627.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TFC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth $307,787,000. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,049,000. North Reef Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,804,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $72,498,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Truist Financial by 342.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,526,939 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,296,000 after buying an additional 1,955,448 shares in the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Truist Financial

Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings. Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.