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

F.N.B. Co. (NYSE:FNB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,910,000 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the March 31st total of 10,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Activity at F.N.B.

In other news, Director William B. Campbell purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.48 per share, with a total value of $33,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 149,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,693.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 6,500 shares of company stock valued at $87,505. Corporate insiders own 1.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On F.N.B.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,346,808 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,806,000 after buying an additional 156,120 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,292,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $293,193,000 after buying an additional 136,104 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,266,361 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $143,144,000 after buying an additional 822,023 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,474,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,597,000 after buying an additional 694,059 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of F.N.B. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,969,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,071,000 after buying an additional 48,336 shares during the period. 79.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FNB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on F.N.B. from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut F.N.B. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on F.N.B. from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens lowered their price objective on F.N.B. from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on F.N.B. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, F.N.B. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

F.N.B. Price Performance

FNB traded up $0.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,913,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,365. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. F.N.B. has a 12 month low of $10.09 and a 12 month high of $14.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.02.

F.N.B. (NYSE:FNB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. F.N.B. had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm had revenue of $406.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that F.N.B. will post 1.42 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 Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. F.N.B.’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

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.