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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised FB Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $40.50 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of FB Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of FB Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FB Financial news, major shareholder James W. Ayers purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.29 per share, for a total transaction of $70,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 10,877,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $383,879,008.89. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder James W. Ayers purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.29 per share, with a total value of $70,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,877,841 shares in the company, valued at $383,879,008.89. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder James W. Ayers bought 3,000 shares of FB Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $390,874,640.31. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $327,410. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FB Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in FB Financial by 570.5% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FB Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in FB Financial during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Point72 Middle East FZE boosted its position in FB Financial by 111.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in FB Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. 65.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FB Financial Trading Up 4.5 %

FB Financial stock traded up $1.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.19. The stock had a trading volume of 493,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,359. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.15. FB Financial has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $41.00.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. FB Financial had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $116.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that FB Financial will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from FB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. FB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

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.