Short Interest in FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Decreases By 7.9%

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 383,300 shares, a drop of 7.9% from the March 15th total of 416,200 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 125,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

FB Financial Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of FBK stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.19. 493,764 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,359. FB Financial has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $41.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.15.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $116.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.58 million. FB Financial had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 16.05%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that FB Financial will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from FB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. FB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded FB Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday. Stephens lowered their target price on FB Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut FB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded FB Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $40.50 in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.67.

Insider Activity at FB Financial

In other news, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.20 per share, with a total value of $76,400.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,881,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,686,326.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder James W. Ayers bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.91 per share, for a total transaction of $107,730.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,884,841 shares in the company, valued at $390,874,640.31. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder James W. Ayers bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.20 per share, for a total transaction of $76,400.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,881,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $415,686,326.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $327,410 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of FB Financial by 975.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 10,198 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FB Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $2,770,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of FB Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $602,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in FB Financial by 6.6% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 557,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,822,000 after purchasing an additional 34,601 shares during the period. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its position in FB Financial by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 25,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the period. 65.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FB Financial

FB Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank that provides a suite of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates in segments, such as Banking and Mortgage. It offers checking, demand, money market, and savings accounts; deposit and lending products and services to corporate, commercial, and consumer customers; and time deposits and certificates of deposits, as well as residential mortgage loans.