Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,390,665 Shares of Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC)

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC) by 70.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,698 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,390,665 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Truist Financial were worth $24,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TFC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Truist Financial by 1.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 267,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,439,000 after buying an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Truist Financial by 61.8% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,419 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 5,505 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Truist Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 278,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,915,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Truist Financial by 5.2% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 418,716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,908,000 after buying an additional 20,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Truist Financial by 8.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 8,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.28% of the company’s stock.

Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of TFC stock opened at $38.06 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.91. Truist Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $33.56 and a 12-month high of $49.06.

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

Truist Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 62.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Truist Financial from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Truist Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. HSBC upgraded Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Truist Financial from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Truist Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.22.

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.