Robert Jerome Johnson, Jr. Sells 18,343 Shares of BB&T Corporation (BBT) Stock

BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) insider Robert Jerome Johnson, Jr. sold 18,343 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total value of $865,606.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

BB&T Corporation (BBT) traded down 0.36% during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $46.65. The stock had a trading volume of 955,901 shares. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.21. BB&T Corporation has a 1-year low of $36.75 and a 1-year high of $49.88.

BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. BB&T Corporation had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 19.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BB&T Corporation will post $2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is a positive change from BB&T Corporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 9th. BB&T Corporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

BB&T Corporation announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.88 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BBT shares. BidaskClub upgraded BB&T Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Hilliard Lyons upgraded BB&T Corporation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $49.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “hold” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of BB&T Corporation in a report on Friday, July 21st. Jefferies Group LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of BB&T Corporation in a report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated a “hold” rating on shares of BB&T Corporation in a report on Thursday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.19.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBT. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in BB&T Corporation by 3.4% in the first quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,892,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $174,020,000 after buying an additional 126,549 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in BB&T Corporation during the first quarter worth $2,371,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in BB&T Corporation by 4.8% in the first quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 270,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,083,000 after buying an additional 12,302 shares during the last quarter. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BB&T Corporation by 47.5% in the first quarter. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC now owns 23,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 7,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LLC increased its stake in BB&T Corporation by 26.2% in the first quarter. HRT Financial LLC now owns 9,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 1,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.46% of the company’s stock.

About BB&T Corporation

BB&T Corporation is a financial holding company. The Company conducts its business operations primarily through its bank subsidiary, Branch Banking and Trust Company (Branch Bank), and other nonbank subsidiaries. Its segments include Community Banking, Residential Mortgage Banking, Dealer Financial Services, Specialized Lending, Insurance Holdings and Financial Services.