Short Interest in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) Declines By 5.5%

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,770,000 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 8,220,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 579,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 13.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 81.1% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter worth $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in First Financial Bankshares in the second quarter worth $83,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in First Financial Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,000. Institutional investors own 69.78% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFIN opened at $38.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68 and a beta of 0.78. First Financial Bankshares has a 52-week low of $22.84 and a 52-week high of $39.53.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 29.13%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. First Financial Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on 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 raised their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

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.