First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) Short Interest Update

First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,500 shares, a decrease of 10.2% from the August 31st total of 28,400 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 18,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Institutional Trading of First Business Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in First Business Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $204,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Business Financial Services by 1.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 537,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,893,000 after acquiring an additional 7,871 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of First Business Financial Services by 1.2% during the second quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 353,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,084,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of First Business Financial Services by 5.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 37,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of First Business Financial Services by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. 60.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBIZ has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of First Business Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of First Business Financial Services in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Business Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Business Financial Services from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.75.

First Business Financial Services Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FBIZ traded up $1.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 60,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,929. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. First Business Financial Services has a 12 month low of $28.35 and a 12 month high of $47.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.83 million, a PE ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 0.82.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.14. First Business Financial Services had a net margin of 15.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $65.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.73 million. On average, research analysts predict that First Business Financial Services will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Business Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. First Business Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.04%.

First Business Financial Services Company Profile

First Business Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri.