First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBKGet Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the December 31st total of 2,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 633,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Activity at First Interstate BancSystem

In other news, major shareholder Julie A. Scott sold 20,220 shares of First Interstate BancSystem stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $662,811.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 635,069 shares in the company, valued at $20,817,561.82. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder James R. Scott, Jr. sold 6,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $209,311.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,851.50. The trade was a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,837 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,583 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Interstate BancSystem

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 97.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 15,649 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 188,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 22,899 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First Interstate BancSystem by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 206,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,326,000 after buying an additional 32,298 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in First Interstate BancSystem by 37,734.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 141,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,595,000 after buying an additional 141,128 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 466,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,318,000 after buying an additional 21,191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FIBK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Interstate BancSystem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group initiated coverage on First Interstate BancSystem in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on First Interstate BancSystem from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Interstate BancSystem presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.14.

Read Our Latest Analysis on FIBK

First Interstate BancSystem Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of FIBK traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $32.15. The stock had a trading volume of 50,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,885. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.10 and a 200 day moving average of $31.61. First Interstate BancSystem has a 52 week low of $24.16 and a 52 week high of $36.77.

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBKGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. First Interstate BancSystem had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 15.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Interstate BancSystem will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Interstate BancSystem Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. First Interstate BancSystem’s dividend payout ratio is 85.85%.

First Interstate BancSystem Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors.

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