Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 3,919 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,540% compared to the typical volume of 239 call options.

Beacon Financial Price Performance

BBT traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.27. The company had a trading volume of 44,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.60. Beacon Financial has a twelve month low of $24.11 and a twelve month high of $32.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.91.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). Beacon Financial had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Beacon Financial will post 3.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. Beacon Financial’s payout ratio is 47.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BBT. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Beacon Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Beacon Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas Hollister acquired 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.43 per share, with a total value of $104,983.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 28,876 shares in the company, valued at $878,696.68. The trade was a 13.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 4,479 shares of company stock worth $136,275 over the last three months. 1.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBT. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $1,106,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Beacon Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,756,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Beacon Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,394,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Beacon Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,209,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $1,936,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

About Beacon Financial

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.