Short Interest in FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Grows By 5.1%

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 574,700 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the November 15th total of 546,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 150,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on FBK. StockNews.com lowered shares of FB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Hovde Group lowered shares of FB Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on FB Financial from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.20.

FB Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

FBK stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $55.62. The stock had a trading volume of 22,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,312. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 1.15. FB Financial has a one year low of $33.35 and a one year high of $58.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.33.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. FB Financial had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm had revenue of $169.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that FB Financial will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FB Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. FB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.69%.

Insider Activity at FB Financial

In other news, major shareholder James W. Ayers bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.15 per share, with a total value of $57,150.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,909,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $623,497,413.15. This trade represents a 0.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Iv Cross sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.22, for a total transaction of $291,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,078 shares in the company, valued at $3,148,421.16. The trade was a 8.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 13,000 shares of company stock valued at $658,460 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FB Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBK. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in FB Financial by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in FB Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 80,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,786,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in FB Financial by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 25,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FB Financial by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of FB Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 111,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. 65.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FB Financial Company Profile

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.