First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) Short Interest Update

First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,200 shares, a growth of 13.6% from the December 15th total of 21,300 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 27,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBIZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on First Business Financial Services from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised First Business Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Business Financial Services from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Business Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

First Business Financial Services Stock Up 1.2 %

FBIZ stock opened at $45.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.39 million, a PE ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.87. First Business Financial Services has a twelve month low of $32.56 and a twelve month high of $52.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.63.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $66.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.80 million. First Business Financial Services had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 15.46%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that First Business Financial Services will post 4.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Business Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. First Business Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 21.46%.

Insider Transactions at First Business Financial Services

In other news, Director William Kent Lorenz sold 1,000 shares of First Business Financial Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $49,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,341 shares in the company, valued at $408,709. The trade was a 10.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Corey A. Chambas sold 40,000 shares of First Business Financial Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.81, for a total value of $1,952,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,750 shares in the company, valued at $5,503,327.50. The trade was a 26.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,344 shares of company stock worth $2,275,144 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FBIZ. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $125,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $204,000. ERn Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.07% of the company’s stock.

First Business Financial Services Company Profile

First Business Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri.