Vanguard Group Inc. Buys Shares of 9,603,540 Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Beacon Financial, buying 9.6 million shares worth about $253.2 million and ending with an 11.45% ownership position.
• Beacon Financial reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.70 EPS versus the $0.83 consensus, even as revenue came in at $214.72 million.
• The company also announced a $50 million share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.3225 per share, implying a 4.5% yield.

Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,603,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $253,245,000. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.45% of Beacon Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $16,448,000. Grace & White Inc. NY bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $4,914,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,714,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,179,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $35,274,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Beacon Financial

In related news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total value of $538,016.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Beacon Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Hovde Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Beacon Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.75.

Beacon Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Beacon Financial stock opened at $28.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 0.55. Beacon Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.81 and a fifty-two week high of $32.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $30.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $214.72 million during the quarter. Beacon Financial had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 6.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Beacon Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Beacon Financial's payout ratio is 106.61%.

Beacon Financial 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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