Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.50.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Beacon Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Hovde Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Beacon Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Beacon Financial Trading Down 0.4%

BBT stock opened at $32.48 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Beacon Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.81 and a fifty-two week high of $32.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. The company had revenue of $219.19 million for the quarter. Beacon Financial had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 8.96%. Analysts expect that Beacon Financial will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Beacon Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beacon Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBT. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Beacon Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.