Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares of Beacon Financial hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $32.58 and last at $32.78 on volume of 99,522; the stock's 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages are $30.25 and $27.62, respectively, with a market cap of $2.72 billion.
• Analyst sentiment has improved recently — Weiss upgraded to a Buy, Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight $33 target and KBW raised its target to $36 — leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $33.25.
• Beacon slightly beat quarterly estimates with $0.79 EPS (vs. $0.78 est.), and while institutional investors own 83.07% of the stock, insider Michael W. McCurdy sold 17,333 shares (a 40.41% reduction in his holdings), leaving insiders with 1.09% ownership.

Shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.58 and last traded at $32.78, with a volume of 99522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Beacon Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Beacon Financial in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Beacon Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Beacon Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.25.

Beacon Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $30.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49 and a beta of 0.62.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Beacon Financial had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Beacon Financial news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of Beacon Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total transaction of $538,016.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,555 shares in the company, valued at $793,227.20. The trade was a 40.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beacon Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBT. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $736,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Beacon Financial Company Profile

Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health Truist Financial Corp.

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