Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 1,132,786 Shares of Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Beacon Financial stake by 88.2%, selling 1,132,786 shares and retaining 152,280 shares worth approximately $4.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.07% of the company.
• Beacon Financial reported quarterly EPS of $0.77, matching analyst estimates, on revenue of $219.19 million. The stock opened at $31.86, near its 52-week high of $32.83.
• The company authorized a $50 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3225, representing a 4.0% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $32.50 price target.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its stake in shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Free Report) by 88.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,280 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,132,786 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.18% of Beacon Financial worth $4,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BBT. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $253,245,000. State Street Corp bought a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $133,275,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,643,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $128,568,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,619,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Beacon Financial Stock Performance

BBT stock opened at $31.86 on Tuesday. Beacon Financial Corporation has a one year low of $22.81 and a one year high of $32.83. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.82.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77. The firm had revenue of $219.19 million for the quarter. Beacon Financial had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Beacon Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Beacon Financial's payout ratio is currently 97.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Hovde Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Beacon Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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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