Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Beacon Financial Corporation (NYSE:BBT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on BBT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Beacon Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Beacon Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Beacon Financial from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Hovde Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Beacon Financial in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Beacon Financial by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Beacon Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Beacon Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Beacon Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBT opened at $31.74 on Wednesday. Beacon Financial has a one year low of $22.81 and a one year high of $32.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Beacon Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Beacon Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Beacon Financial’s payout ratio is presently 97.73%.

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.