Short Interest in First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) Rises By 7.7%

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the December 15th total of 2,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 633,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of First Interstate BancSystem in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of First Interstate BancSystem in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

First Interstate BancSystem Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:FIBK opened at $32.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. First Interstate BancSystem has a 12 month low of $24.16 and a 12 month high of $36.77. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.37.

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). First Interstate BancSystem had a net margin of 15.94% and a return on equity of 7.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts forecast that First Interstate BancSystem will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Interstate BancSystem Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. First Interstate BancSystem’s payout ratio is currently 82.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Julie A. Scott sold 20,220 shares of First Interstate BancSystem stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $662,811.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 635,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,817,561.82. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder James R. Scott, Jr. sold 6,067 shares of First Interstate BancSystem stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $209,311.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 75,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,600,851.50. The trade was a 7.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,837 shares of company stock worth $1,839,583 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Interstate BancSystem

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,580,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,204,000 after purchasing an additional 367,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,992,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,152,000 after purchasing an additional 59,367 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,288,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,522,000 after buying an additional 78,596 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,073,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,945,000 after buying an additional 52,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 885,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,176,000 after buying an additional 322,578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

First Interstate BancSystem Company Profile

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors.