Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Raised to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $58.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $49.00. Evercore ISI’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.79% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $55.00 price target on Truist Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Truist Financial Price Performance

Truist Financial stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.97. 1,465,284 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,045,626. The company has a market cap of $65.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.52. Truist Financial has a 52-week low of $33.56 and a 52-week high of $51.01.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.20 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 16.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director K. David Jr. Boyer sold 5,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total transaction of $239,682.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,153 shares in the company, valued at $471,606.85. This trade represents a 33.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Truist Financial by 148.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 3.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 41.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 242,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,964,000 after purchasing an additional 70,456 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Truist Financial by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Truist Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

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.