Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. $FFIN

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) by 5,632.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,346 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,712 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in First Financial Bankshares were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 3,042,660.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 21,512,315 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $642,573,000 after buying an additional 21,511,608 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,140,759 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,551,000 after purchasing an additional 87,988 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,715,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,129,000 after purchasing an additional 165,801 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $51,227,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 4,145.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,709,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669,365 shares during the period. 69.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FFIN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Benchmark began coverage on First Financial Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (up from $34.00) on shares of First Financial Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bankshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Murray Hamilton Edwards purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.18 per share, for a total transaction of $33,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 44,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,480,956.12. The trade was a 2.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of FFIN opened at $34.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.31. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.11 and a fifty-two week high of $38.12.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $172.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.03 million. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 31.03%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from First Financial Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. First Financial Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

First Financial Bankshares Profile

First Financial Bankshares, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its primary subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company offers a full suite of banking products and services to individual, small business and commercial clients. With roots dating back to 1863, First Financial has cultivated a strong community banking heritage, combining personalized service with modern financial solutions.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, and wealth management.