Beacon Financial Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BBT)

Key Points

• Options activity surged: Investors bought 3,919 call options in Beacon Financial, 1,540% above its typical daily volume of 239 contracts.
• Insider and institutional interest remained notable: Director Thomas Hollister increased his holdings by 13.57%, while institutional investors owned 83.07% of the stock.
• Shares rose 2.8% to $31.49: Analysts’ average rating remained “Hold,” with an average price target of $32.75. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3225 per share, representing a 4.1% annualized yield.

Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 3,919 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,540% compared to the typical daily volume of 239 call options.

Insider Transactions at Beacon Financial

In other news, Director Thomas Hollister acquired 3,450 shares of Beacon Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.43 per share, for a total transaction of $104,983.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 28,876 shares in the company, valued at $878,696.68. The trade was a 13.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 4,479 shares of company stock worth $136,275. 1.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beacon Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBT. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Beacon Financial by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Beacon Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Beacon Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

Beacon Financial Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of BBT stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $31.49. 112,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.89. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.61. Beacon Financial has a fifty-two week low of $24.06 and a fifty-two week high of $32.83.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter. Beacon Financial had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 17.33%. Equities analysts anticipate that Beacon Financial will post 3.00 EPS for the current year.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Beacon Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.96%.

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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