F.N.B. Co. (NYSE:FNB) Short Interest Up 7.1% in December

F.N.B. Co. (NYSE:FNB) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,790,000 shares, a growth 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other F.N.B. news, CEO Vincent J. Delie, Jr. sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,261,778.50. This represents a 7.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FNB. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in F.N.B. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of F.N.B. in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of F.N.B. by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,946 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in F.N.B. by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,687 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in F.N.B. by 100.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. 79.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F.N.B. Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE FNB traded up $0.28 on Monday, hitting $15.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,140,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,759. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.76 and its 200 day moving average is $14.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.01. F.N.B. has a 1-year low of $12.49 and a 1-year high of $17.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

F.N.B. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. F.N.B.’s payout ratio is 44.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FNB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of F.N.B. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of F.N.B. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of F.N.B. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on F.N.B. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on F.N.B. from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.