Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research lowered shares of Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BBT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Beacon Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Beacon Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Beacon Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.75.

Beacon Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Beacon Financial stock opened at $28.90 on Tuesday. Beacon Financial has a 12 month low of $22.81 and a 12 month high of $32.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.08.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.13). The business 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Beacon Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total transaction of $538,016.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,555 shares in the company, valued at $793,227.20. This represents a 40.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beacon Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Beacon Financial Company 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.