Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stake in SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 91,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 704 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in SunTrust Banks were worth $5,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STI. Trust Co. of Virginia VA boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 74.3% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA now owns 9,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 3,984 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 0.8% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 9,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 17.0% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 5,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 11.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,781,000 after buying an additional 22,620 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of SunTrust Banks by 2.7% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 729,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,325,000 after buying an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.08% of the company’s stock.

SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) opened at 57.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $57.01 and its 200-day moving average is $56.67. SunTrust Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.00 and a 12 month high of $61.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 1.33.

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

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

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

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: “[[title]]” was first posted by [[site]] and is the property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this piece of content on another domain, it was stolen and reposted in violation of United States and international trademark & copyright law. The legal version of this piece of content can be read at [[permalink]].

Several equities analysts have weighed in on STI shares. Wedbush upgraded shares of SunTrust Banks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of SunTrust Banks in a report on Friday, May 5th. Bank of America Corporation restated a “hold” rating on shares of SunTrust Banks in a report on Monday, April 24th. Rafferty Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of SunTrust Banks from $63.00 to $64.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded shares of SunTrust Banks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.18.

In related news, insider Susan S. Johnson sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.34, for a total value of $46,330.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,515 shares in the company, valued at $201,550.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

SunTrust Banks Company Profile

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.