Hovde Group Upgrades FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) to “Outperform”

Hovde Group upgraded shares of FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $40.50 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $40.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stephens cut their price objective on FB Financial from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered FB Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FB Financial presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.43.

FB Financial Price Performance

Shares of FB Financial stock opened at $36.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 1.15. FB Financial has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $41.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.17.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $116.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.58 million. FB Financial had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 14.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that FB Financial will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from FB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. FB Financial’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FB Financial

In related news, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.91 per share, for a total transaction of $107,730.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 10,884,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $390,874,640.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.91 per share, for a total transaction of $107,730.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 10,884,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $390,874,640.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder James W. Ayers acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.35 per share, with a total value of $72,700.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 10,886,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,736,670.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 7,000 shares of company stock worth $256,830. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of FB Financial by 570.5% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FB Financial in the third quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of FB Financial in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of FB Financial by 413.0% in the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE raised its stake in shares of FB Financial by 111.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.40% of the company’s stock.

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.