FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Short Interest Up 18.4% in March

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

FB Financial Price Performance

Shares of FBK stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.21. The company had a trading volume of 261,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 167,539. FB Financial has a 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $58.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 0.92.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $130.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that FB Financial will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is a boost from FB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of FB Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FBK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FB Financial by 810.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of FB Financial by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in FB Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC purchased a new position in FB Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. 65.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.