Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) Stock

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $41.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.81% from the stock’s current price.

FFIN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $34.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Performance

FFIN opened at $38.03 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.46 and a 200-day moving average of $37.41. First Financial Bankshares has a 1-year low of $27.62 and a 1-year high of $44.66.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO F Scott Dueser sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.73, for a total transaction of $1,018,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 471,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,183,992.92. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael B. Denny sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total value of $287,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,156,615.20. This represents a 6.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 32.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,369 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in First Financial Bankshares in the second quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in First Financial Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $118,000. 69.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts.