LS Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.30 Million Stake in SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI)

LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) by 6.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in SunTrust Banks were worth $1,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STI. Investec Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 64.9% in the first quarter. Investec Asset Management LTD now owns 4,321,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,992,000 after buying an additional 1,701,169 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 351.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,760,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,358,000 after buying an additional 1,370,247 shares during the period. Janus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 229.6% in the first quarter. Janus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,467,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,147,000 after buying an additional 1,022,200 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 8.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,758,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,324,000 after buying an additional 694,144 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 1.6% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,395,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,570,283,000 after buying an additional 459,526 shares during the period. 82.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of SunTrust Banks, Inc. (STI) opened at 57.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.33. SunTrust Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.46 and a 12 month high of $61.69.

SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. SunTrust Banks had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 20.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that SunTrust Banks, Inc. will post $4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SunTrust Banks declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.32 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from SunTrust Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. SunTrust Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.73%.

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STI has been the topic of several recent research reports. FBR & Co set a $65.00 price target on shares of SunTrust Banks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Bank of America Corporation reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of SunTrust Banks in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of SunTrust Banks in a research report on Sunday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of SunTrust Banks from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of SunTrust Banks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.18.

About SunTrust Banks

SunTrust Banks, Inc is a provider of financial services. The Company’s principal subsidiary is SunTrust Bank (the Bank). The Company’s business segments include Consumer Banking and Private Wealth Management, Wholesale Banking, Mortgage Banking and Corporate Other. As of December 31, 2016, the Consumer Banking and Private Wealth Management segment consisted of three primary businesses: Consumer Banking, Consumer Lending and Private Wealth Management.