Sandler O’Neill Downgrades FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) to Hold

09 Dec 2019, 13:42 by Tristan Rich

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) was downgraded by investment analysts at Sandler O’Neill from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, The Fly reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on FBK. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of FB Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James downgraded shares of FB Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Stephens reissued a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of FB Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. ValuEngine lowered FB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on FB Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. FB Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.50.

Shares of FBK opened at $39.65 on Monday. FB Financial has a 12 month low of $30.33 and a 12 month high of $39.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.96.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.05. FB Financial had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 19.75%. The firm had revenue of $96.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.41 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that FB Financial will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

In related news, Director James L. Exum sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.60, for a total value of $38,600.00. 45.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBK. Aperio Group LLC acquired a new position in FB Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Advisor Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FB Financial by 356.1% in the second quarter. Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of FB Financial by 362.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of FB Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of FB Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 5,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.83% of the company’s stock.

About FB Financial

FB Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank that provides a suite of commercial and consumer banking services businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates in two segments, Banking and Mortgage. It provides demand, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market, certificates of deposit, and municipal and savings accounts, as well as time deposits.