151,543 Shares in Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 151,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,996,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.18% of Beacon Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $507,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $392,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $338,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Beacon Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael W. Mccurdy sold 17,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.04, for a total value of $538,016.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,555 shares in the company, valued at $793,227.20. This trade represents a 40.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BBT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on 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. Hovde Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Beacon Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Beacon Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.75.

Beacon Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Beacon Financial stock opened at $28.82 on Friday. Beacon Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.81 and a 52-week high of $32.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.44.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $214.72 million during the quarter. Beacon Financial had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Beacon Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Beacon Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.61%.

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.