First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $48.03 Per Share, Wedbush Forecasts

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) – Wedbush cut their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for First Citizens BancShares in a research report issued on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now anticipates that the bank will post earnings of $48.03 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $48.24. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $2,150.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Citizens BancShares’ current full-year earnings is $200.92 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for First Citizens BancShares’ FY2024 earnings at $199.68 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $50.40 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $50.90 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $53.75 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,900.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,005.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,962.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,845.53 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,954.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,770.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.82. First Citizens BancShares has a 1-year low of $1,274.91 and a 1-year high of $2,174.80.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $44.91 by $5.96. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 14.84%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $52.60 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,077 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,866,000 after buying an additional 5,172 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in First Citizens BancShares by 19.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,709,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 2,583.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 805 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,376,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 67.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,067 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. 61.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.64%.

First Citizens BancShares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About First Citizens BancShares

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.