Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Truist Financial Corporation $TFC

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Truist Financial (TFC) by 11.0% in Q3 to 547,679 shares — about $25.06 million — and institutional investors now own roughly 71.28% of the company.
• Multiple analysts have raised ratings and targets recently (notably Morgan Stanley to overweight with a $69 target), leaving Truist with a MarketBeat average target of $56.47 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (10 Buys, 4 Holds, 1 Sell).
• Truist pays a quarterly dividend of $0.52 (annualized yield ~4.7%) and its board authorized a $10 billion share buyback program, equal to about 15.7% of outstanding shares.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 547,679 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 54,305 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $25,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Truist Financial by 148.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 23,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 14,093 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Truist Financial by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 111,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 31,454 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Truist Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $575,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in Truist Financial by 5.7% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,295,391 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $141,669,000 after purchasing an additional 176,751 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,191,122 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,205,855,000 after purchasing an additional 74,728 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Truist Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Truist Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Truist Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Truist Financial news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 74,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total value of $183,715.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 667 shares in the company, valued at $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TFC opened at $44.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.87. Truist Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.56 and a 52-week high of $56.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.71.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Research analysts predict that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.59%.

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

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.

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