First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) Director Michael Denny Purchases 3,000 Shares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) Director Michael Denny bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.66 per share, for a total transaction of $103,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,290. The trade was a 85.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

First Financial Bankshares Price Performance

First Financial Bankshares stock opened at $34.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.69. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.11 and a 1-year high of $38.12.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 31.03%.The business had revenue of $172.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. First Financial Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFIN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 21,511,608 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in First Financial Bankshares by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,140,759 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,551,000 after buying an additional 87,988 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Financial Bankshares by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,760,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,309,000 after buying an additional 45,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in First Financial Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,227,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,669,365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FFIN. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Financial Bankshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (up from $34.00) on shares of First Financial Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

About First Financial Bankshares

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.