First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FCNCA. UBS Group assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $2,303.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $2,100.00 to $2,500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,250.00 to $2,456.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2,290.75.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $2,094.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2,153.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,995.31. The company has a market cap of $29.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. First Citizens BancShares has a one year low of $1,363.97 and a one year high of $2,388.78.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 17.36% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.92 EPS. Analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 188.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $1.95 dividend. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 84.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,948,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,829 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 73 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 0.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,103 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,326,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 78.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

First Citizens BancShares, Inc operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts.