FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Short Interest Up 5.3% in January

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 428,900 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the January 15th total of 407,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 157,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FBK shares. Hovde Group lowered shares of FB Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of FB Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of FB Financial from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at FB Financial

In other news, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $51.86 per share, for a total transaction of $103,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,911,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,888,074.26. The trade was a 0.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $716,880 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FB Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in FB Financial by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,961,000 after purchasing an additional 11,251 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FB Financial during the 4th quarter worth $1,280,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of FB Financial by 320.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FB Financial by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FB Financial by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 259,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,383,000 after buying an additional 58,402 shares in the last quarter. 65.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FB Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

FBK stock opened at $52.06 on Tuesday. FB Financial has a 52 week low of $33.35 and a 52 week high of $58.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.50 and a 200 day moving average of $50.20.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.01. FB Financial had a net margin of 15.18% and a return on equity of 10.43%. On average, equities research analysts expect that FB Financial will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from FB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. FB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.53%.

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.