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

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,770,000 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 8,220,000 shares. Approximately 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 579,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bankshares in the third quarter valued at $229,000. CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 9.3% during the third quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 190,943 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,067,000 after purchasing an additional 16,194 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 15.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 6,670 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 747.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 45,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 40,194 shares during the period. Finally, Helen Stephens Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the third quarter valued at about $1,423,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.78% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of First Financial Bankshares stock opened at $38.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75 and a beta of 0.78. First Financial Bankshares has a twelve month low of $22.84 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.37 and its 200 day moving average is $32.94.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.10 million. First Financial Bankshares had a net margin of 29.13% and a return on equity of 14.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. First Financial Bankshares’s payout ratio is 51.43%.

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.