F.N.B. Co. (NYSE:FNB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

F.N.B. Co. (NYSE:FNB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,790,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the December 15th total of 6,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at F.N.B.

In other news, CEO Vincent J. Delie, Jr. sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $2,062,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,652,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,261,778.50. The trade was a 7.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in F.N.B. by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,592 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in F.N.B. by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 121,945 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in F.N.B. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 92,332 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in F.N.B. by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 47,679 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 79.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FNB. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of F.N.B. in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of F.N.B. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of F.N.B. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on F.N.B. from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised F.N.B. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, F.N.B. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

F.N.B. Price Performance

F.N.B. stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.61. 4,140,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,183,759. F.N.B. has a 12 month low of $12.49 and a 12 month high of $17.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.01.

F.N.B. (NYSE:FNB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.02). F.N.B. had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $413.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.80 million. Equities research analysts expect that F.N.B. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

F.N.B. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. F.N.B.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.04%.

About F.N.B.

F.N.B. Corporation, a bank and financial holding company, provides a range of financial products and services primarily to consumers, corporations, governments, and small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Community Banking, Wealth Management, and Insurance.