First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,960,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the November 30th total of 7,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 479,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.6 days. Approximately 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Shares of FFIN stock traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $36.05. 298,398 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 535,166. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.39. First Financial Bankshares has a 52 week low of $27.06 and a 52 week high of $44.66.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.39. The business had revenue of $142.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.25 million. First Financial Bankshares had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 13.43%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. First Financial Bankshares's payout ratio is presently 49.66%.

In related news, Director Michael B. Denny sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total value of $287,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,156,615.20. This represents a 6.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO F Scott Dueser sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.73, for a total transaction of $1,018,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 471,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,183,992.92. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,369 shares of the bank's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in First Financial Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $97,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth $118,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,026 shares of the bank's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the period. 69.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FFIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bankshares from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $34.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Read Our Latest Report on FFIN

First Financial Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts.

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