First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to “Market Perform”

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $2,500.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $2,100.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on FCNCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2,113.40.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

NASDAQ FCNCA opened at $2,197.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,075.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,922.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. First Citizens BancShares has a 12-month low of $1,363.97 and a 12-month high of $2,388.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.83.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 17.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 187.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.95 per share. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 3,577.5% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,943,000 after acquiring an additional 34,058 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 323,532 shares of the bank’s stock worth $595,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,713 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 225.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 42,159 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,979,000 after acquiring an additional 29,194 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 183,992.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $440,580,000 after acquiring an additional 23,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 6,773.9% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 23,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,274,000 after acquiring an additional 23,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

First Citizens BancShares, Inc operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts.