FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Short Interest Update

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 623,100 shares, an increase of 18.4% from the March 15th total of 526,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 182,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FB Financial news, major shareholder James W. Ayers bought 2,000 shares of FB Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.07 per share, for a total transaction of $104,140.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,921,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $568,700,260.87. The trade was a 0.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James W. Iv Cross purchased 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $40.49 per share, for a total transaction of $291,528.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 61,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,146.22. The trade was a 13.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 15,200 shares of company stock valued at $701,468. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FB Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBK. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of FB Financial by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,415,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FB Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 815,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,272,000 after buying an additional 7,021 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of FB Financial by 103.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 21,475 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in FB Financial by 8.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 66,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in FB Financial by 45.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. 65.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FB Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FBK traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.29. 325,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,675. FB Financial has a 12 month low of $34.50 and a 12 month high of $58.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.09. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12 and a beta of 0.92.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. FB Financial had a net margin of 15.18% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $130.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.28 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that FB Financial will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This is a boost from FB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. FB Financial's payout ratio is presently 27.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FBK. StockNews.com raised shares of FB Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of FB Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Stephens decreased their price target on FB Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of FB Financial from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on FB Financial from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.80.

About FB Financial

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.