Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Truist a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 15 brokerages (1 sell, 5 hold, 9 buy) with an average 1-year target price of about $56.47.
• Truist recently missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.00 versus $1.09 expected and revenue of $4.93 billion versus $5.32 billion consensus, while trading at a P/E of 12.18 and a market cap near $58 billion.
• The bank pays a quarterly dividend of $0.52 (annualized yield ~4.5%) and its board authorized a $10 billion share repurchase plan (about 15.7% of outstanding shares).

Shares of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.4667.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus increased their price target on Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Truist Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays cut Truist Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Truist Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $56.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Truist Financial Trading Down 4.3%

TFC opened at $46.40 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.01 and its 200-day moving average is $47.72. Truist Financial has a 1-year low of $33.56 and a 1-year high of $56.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $57.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Truist Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.59%.

Truist Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Truist Financial

In related news, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total transaction of $651,690.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at $3,725,811.99. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 667 shares in the company, valued at $35,010.83. The trade was a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TFC. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Maseco LLP raised its position in shares of Truist Financial by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Maseco LLP now owns 652 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.28% of the company's stock.

Truist Financial Company Profile

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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