Verity & Verity LLC Boosts Stake in Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC)

Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,970 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,116 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial makes up about 1.6% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $14,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Truist Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Truist Financial by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 18,916 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $267,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Truist Financial by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,010,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $222,005,000 after buying an additional 77,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 124.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 172,956 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,386,000 after buying an additional 95,869 shares in the last quarter. 71.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Truist Financial

In related news, VP Cynthia B. Powell sold 6,688 shares of Truist Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.14, for a total transaction of $295,208.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO William H. Rogers, Jr. bought 57,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.96 per share, with a total value of $2,518,908.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 569,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,025,153.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Cynthia B. Powell sold 6,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.14, for a total transaction of $295,208.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TFC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Truist Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Truist Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Truist Financial from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.45.

Truist Financial Price Performance

Truist Financial stock opened at $41.72 on Wednesday. Truist Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $26.57 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.72 and its 200 day moving average is $39.84. The company has a market cap of $55.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.61, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.06.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. Truist Financial had a positive return on equity of 9.18% and a negative net margin of 5.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Truist Financial Co. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial’s payout ratio is -157.58%.

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.