First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,460,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 7,960,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 492,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael B. Denny sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total transaction of $287,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 101,085 shares in the company, valued at $4,156,615.20. This trade represents a 6.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO F Scott Dueser sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.73, for a total value of $1,018,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 471,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,183,992.92. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFIN. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $673,000. State Street Corp raised its position in First Financial Bankshares by 4.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,222,092 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,381,000 after acquiring an additional 281,166 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter worth $637,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 27.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 250,553 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,273,000 after purchasing an additional 53,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 43.2% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 393,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,578,000 after purchasing an additional 118,830 shares during the period. 69.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ FFIN traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 364,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,273. First Financial Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $27.62 and a fifty-two week high of $44.66. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.01.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 28.76%. The company had revenue of $142.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.25 million. Analysts expect that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. First Financial Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FFIN. Stephens raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $34.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

About First Financial Bankshares

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.