Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies reduced its Beacon Financial stake by 28.4% in the first quarter, selling 226,718 shares and retaining 570,440 shares worth approximately $17.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 83.07% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with three Buy ratings and four Holds; the consensus rating is Hold and the average price target is $32.00, modestly above the reported $30.56 share price.
• Beacon Financial matched quarterly earnings expectations at $0.77 per share and authorized a $50 million stock buyback. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3225, equivalent to a 4.2% annualized yield, though its payout ratio is elevated at 106.61%.

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Free Report) by 28.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 570,440 shares of the company's stock after selling 226,718 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.68% of Beacon Financial worth $17,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $253,245,000. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth $133,275,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth $128,643,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth $128,568,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $82,619,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BBT shares. 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 research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Beacon Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial cut Beacon Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.00.

Beacon Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBT opened at $30.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 0.55. Beacon Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.81 and a 52 week high of $32.83.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. The company had revenue of $219.19 million during the quarter. Beacon Financial had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 9.21%. On average, equities analysts predict that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Beacon Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.61%.

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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