Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on TFC. HSBC upgraded Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Truist Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Truist Financial from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Truist Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.42.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

TFC stock opened at $34.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.32. Truist Financial has a 1-year low of $33.71 and a 1-year high of $49.06.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.05 billion. Truist Financial had a return on equity of 9.32% and a net margin of 15.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Truist Financial will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is 62.46%.

Institutional Trading of Truist Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TFC. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 90,617,519 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,930,983,000 after acquiring an additional 18,712,246 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $402,828,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Truist Financial by 109.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,460,159 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $453,762,000 after purchasing an additional 5,457,053 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Truist Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $198,051,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Truist Financial by 4.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,864,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,645,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720,223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

About Truist Financial

Truist Financial Corporation, a financial services company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings.Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.