First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $2,700.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup raised First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $2,100.00 to $2,500.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,243.64.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $2,070.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2,122.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,948.22. The firm has a market cap of $28.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.83. First Citizens BancShares has a 1-year low of $1,363.97 and a 1-year high of $2,388.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $1.95 per share. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.47%.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 66 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the second quarter worth about $278,000. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $337,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1,005.0% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 221 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.