GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys New Shares in Beacon Financial Corporation $BBT

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,245,000. State Street Corp acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $133,275,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $128,643,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $128,568,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Beacon Financial in the fourth quarter worth $82,619,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Beacon Financial Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:BBT opened at $32.48 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.14. Beacon Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.81 and a 52-week high of $32.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. The company had revenue of $219.19 million during the quarter. Beacon Financial had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 8.96%. On average, analysts anticipate that Beacon Financial Corporation will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Beacon Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Beacon Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Beacon Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BBT shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Beacon Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Beacon Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Hovde Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Beacon Financial from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Beacon Financial 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.