Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Truist Financial from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Truist Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped 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, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Truist Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.42.

Truist Financial Trading Down 10.8 %

TFC stock opened at $37.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Truist Financial has a 1-year low of $35.09 and a 1-year high of $49.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36. The company has a market capitalization of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.08.

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Truist Financial had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 9.32%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Truist Financial will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Truist Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 18,712,246 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Truist Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $402,828,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 109.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,460,159 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $453,762,000 after buying an additional 5,457,053 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Truist Financial in the fourth quarter worth $198,051,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 4.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,864,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,645,964,000 after buying an additional 2,720,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.