BB&T Co. (NYSE:BBT) – Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group raised their Q4 2018 EPS estimates for shares of BB&T in a note issued to investors on Thursday, November 15th, Zacks Investment Research reports. Jefferies Financial Group analyst K. Usdin now forecasts that the insurance provider will earn $1.07 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.06. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for BB&T’s Q4 2019 earnings at $1.14 EPS, FY2019 earnings at $4.37 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $4.60 EPS.
Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. ValuEngine downgraded shares of BB&T from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of BB&T from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 12th. B. Riley set a $56.00 price target on shares of BB&T and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of BB&T from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. BB&T currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.50.
BBT opened at $50.37 on Monday. BB&T has a 1-year low of $45.93 and a 1-year high of $56.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.94.
BB&T (NYSE:BBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 18th. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. BB&T had a net margin of 23.52% and a return on equity of 11.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BB&T by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,282,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,877,586,000 after purchasing an additional 939,154 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in BB&T by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,303,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,338,000 after purchasing an additional 599,074 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in BB&T by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,657,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,517,000 after purchasing an additional 62,699 shares in the last quarter. Standard Life Aberdeen plc grew its position in BB&T by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Standard Life Aberdeen plc now owns 851,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,345,000 after purchasing an additional 71,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in BB&T in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,172,000. 63.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
In other news, Director I. Patricia Henry sold 611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $30,244.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,562.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Nido R. Qubein sold 2,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.19, for a total transaction of $141,786.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 8th. BB&T’s payout ratio is presently 51.59%.
BB&T Company Profile
BB&T Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides various banking and trust services for small and mid-size businesses, public agencies, local governments, and individuals. The company operates through four segments: CB-Retail, CB-Commercial, IH&PF, and FS&CF. 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.