Royce & Associates LP Buys 47,787 Shares of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its position in First Financial Bankshares by 25.8% in Q1, owning 232,928 shares valued at approximately $8.37 million by the end of the quarter.
• First Financial Bankshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $0.76 and a yield of 2.09%.
• In the latest earnings report, First Financial Bankshares surpassed expectations with $0.47 EPS for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.45.

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,928 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 47,787 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.16% of First Financial Bankshares worth $8,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 161.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 714 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 245.6% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,904 shares of the bank's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 89.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,861 shares of the bank's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other First Financial Bankshares news, Director Michael B. Denny purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.02 per share, with a total value of $180,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 108,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,662.16. This trade represents a 4.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 6,400 shares of company stock worth $229,220 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.96% of the company's stock.

First Financial Bankshares Price Performance

FFIN stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.38. The stock had a trading volume of 382,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,626. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.79. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.58 and a 52-week high of $44.66.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.02. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 31.01%. The company had revenue of $156.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. First Financial Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 44.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FFIN shares. Hovde Group raised their price objective on First Financial Bankshares from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

First Financial Bankshares Company Profile

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.