Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $55.75 and last traded at $55.09, with a volume of 12554318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Truist Financial from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays downgraded shares of Truist Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Truist Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Truist Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.20.

Truist Financial Stock Up 2.0%

The stock has a market cap of $70.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.85 and its 200-day moving average is $46.57.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 17.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial Corporation will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 54.59%.

Truist Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 15.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Cynthia B. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.49, for a total transaction of $183,715.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,010.83. This trade represents a 83.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Baron Maguire sold 13,000 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.13, for a total value of $651,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 74,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,811.99. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,660 shares of company stock worth $1,075,087. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Truist Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TFC. Moneco Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 8,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 135,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,663,000 after buying an additional 6,376 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 260.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,531 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 93,904 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,620,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in 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.