Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “moderate sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Truist Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.13.

Truist Financial Stock Down 1.1%

TFC opened at $44.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $55.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.56. 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.

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). The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 $35,010.83. This represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Truist Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Truist Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the third quarter worth about $28,000. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 1,189.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. 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.