First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) Short Interest Update

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,550,000 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the May 15th total of 2,870,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 922,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Interstate BancSystem

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,229,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,691,000 after purchasing an additional 587,975 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in First Interstate BancSystem by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,786,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,352,000 after buying an additional 1,778,269 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,474,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,765,000 after buying an additional 145,842 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,209,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,254,000 after acquiring an additional 163,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Interstate Bank lifted its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 5,053,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,778,000 after acquiring an additional 624,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

First Interstate BancSystem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FIBK opened at $26.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. First Interstate BancSystem has a 12 month low of $22.95 and a 12 month high of $36.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.67.

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.07). First Interstate BancSystem had a return on equity of 6.57% and a net margin of 14.93%. The firm had revenue of $42.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $253.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Interstate BancSystem will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Interstate BancSystem Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. First Interstate BancSystem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FIBK. Barclays reduced their price objective on First Interstate BancSystem from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Interstate BancSystem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on First Interstate BancSystem from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Interstate BancSystem presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

About First Interstate BancSystem

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, and time deposits; and repurchase agreements primarily for commercial and municipal depositors.