F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB) Short Interest Up 17.9% in March

F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 17,669,683 shares, an increase of 17.9% from the February 26th total of 14,985,739 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,362,436 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FNB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of F.N.B. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of F.N.B. in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of F.N.B. from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F.N.B.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in F.N.B. by 77.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,513,248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,353,000 after purchasing an additional 660,387 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of F.N.B. by 454.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 220,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,550,000 after buying an additional 180,610 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of F.N.B. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,182,000. Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of F.N.B. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of F.N.B. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,097,000. 79.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

F.N.B. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FNB traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.72. The company had a trading volume of 11,559,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,121,531. F.N.B. has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $19.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.76.

F.N.B. (NYSE:FNB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $457.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.87 million. F.N.B. had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 20.98%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that F.N.B. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

F.N.B. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. F.N.B.’s payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

About F.N.B.

F.N.B. Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, FNB Bank, the company provides a broad range of commercial and consumer financial services. Founded in 1864 as the First National Bank of Pennsylvania, F.N.B. has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to become a regional banking franchise.

The company’s main business activities include traditional deposit-taking and lending services, such as checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and consumer and commercial loans.