First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $36.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on FFIN. Benchmark began coverage on First Financial Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Financial Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bankshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of First Financial Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.80.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of FFIN stock opened at $33.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.67. First Financial Bankshares has a 52-week low of $28.11 and a 52-week high of $36.52. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 0.81.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 31.03%.The company had revenue of $172.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bankshares will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 14th. First Financial Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Insider Activity

In other First Financial Bankshares news, Director Michael Denny bought 3,000 shares of First Financial Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.66 per share, for a total transaction of $103,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $225,290. The trade was a 85.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald David Butler II sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $524,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 152,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,193.85. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bankshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFIN. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 978.4% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 68,899 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,058,000 after acquiring an additional 62,510 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter worth $1,466,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bankshares by 283.7% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 112,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,369,000 after acquiring an additional 83,385 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in First Financial Bankshares by 3,042,660.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 21,512,315 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $642,573,000 after acquiring an additional 21,511,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Excelsior Advisor Network LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth $6,903,000. 69.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc is a Texas-based financial holding company headquartered in Abilene. Its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, agricultural customers and public-sector organizations through a network of locations across Texas.

The company offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, business and personal loans, mortgage lending, treasury and cash-management services, and online and mobile banking.