Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 15,822 Shares of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. $FIBK

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 39.9%, acquiring an additional 15,822 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to about 55,484 shares valued at $1.59 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 88.71% of First Interstate BancSystem, with notable investments from Nuveen LLC and US Bancorp DE, which invested $32.8 million and increased their holdings by 75.8%, respectively.
• First Interstate BancSystem reported quarterly earnings of $0.69 EPS, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 5.8%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK - Free Report) by 39.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,822 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.05% of First Interstate BancSystem worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in First Interstate BancSystem by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 70,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in First Interstate BancSystem in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of First Interstate BancSystem in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 12.5% during the first quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 9,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John M. Heyneman, Jr. sold 11,818 shares of First Interstate BancSystem stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.18, for a total value of $356,667.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,660.32. The trade was a 69.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Susan Scott Heyneman Trust, Su sold 55,000 shares of First Interstate BancSystem stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.86, for a total value of $1,532,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 529,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,745,072.16. This trade represents a 9.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 121,818 shares of company stock valued at $3,600,017. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company's stock.

First Interstate BancSystem Price Performance

NASDAQ FIBK traded down $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.56. 960,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 714,197. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.95 and a 12-month high of $36.77.

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $248.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $253.73 million. First Interstate BancSystem had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 16.04%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Interstate BancSystem Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. First Interstate BancSystem's payout ratio is 84.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on FIBK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on First Interstate BancSystem from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays raised First Interstate BancSystem from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut First Interstate BancSystem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Interstate BancSystem from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.43.

First Interstate BancSystem Company Profile

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors.