FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 546,800 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the October 31st total of 459,600 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 151,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on FB Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded FB Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FB Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.60.

FB Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FBK stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 89,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,962. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.01. FB Financial has a 52 week low of $32.82 and a 52 week high of $58.88. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 1.12.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. FB Financial had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.40%. The business had revenue of $169.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FB Financial will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

FB Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. FB Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.69%.

Insider Activity at FB Financial

In other FB Financial news, Director James W. Iv Cross sold 5,000 shares of FB Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.22, for a total value of $291,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,078 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,148,421.16. The trade was a 8.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $49.58 per share, with a total value of $74,370.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 10,892,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,042,266.78. This represents a 0.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 13,000 shares of company stock worth $658,460 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FB Financial by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,464,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,805,000 after buying an additional 9,694 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in FB Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,937,631 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,623,000 after acquiring an additional 106,553 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of FB Financial by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,225,838 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,529,000 after acquiring an additional 55,071 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FB Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 815,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,272,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FB Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 373,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,521,000 after purchasing an additional 14,797 shares during the period. 65.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.