UBS Group AG Takes $18.82 Million Position in Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

Key Points

• UBS Group AG disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Beacon Financial, buying 713,489 shares worth about $18.82 million and ending the period with roughly 0.85% ownership.
• Analysts have become more cautious: several firms cut price targets, and the stock now has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target price of $31.75.
• Beacon Financial recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.70 per share, missing estimates, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.3225 per share and authorizing a $50 million share buyback.

UBS Group AG acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 713,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,815,000. UBS Group AG owned about 0.85% of Beacon Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. NBT Bank N A NY bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBT. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Beacon Financial from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Beacon Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Hovde Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Beacon Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total transaction of $538,016.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $793,227.20. The trade was a 40.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

Beacon Financial Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BBT stock opened at $28.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Beacon Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.81 and a 1 year high of $32.83. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $30.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67 and a beta of 0.55.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.13). Beacon Financial had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $214.72 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Beacon Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.61%.

Beacon Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Beacon Financial

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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