StockNews.com Lowers First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson upgraded First Business Financial Services from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $51.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of First Business Financial Services in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of First Business Financial Services from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.75.

First Business Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBIZ opened at $42.83 on Wednesday. First Business Financial Services has a 1 year low of $28.35 and a 1 year high of $47.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.29. The company has a market capitalization of $355.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.82.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.14. First Business Financial Services had a net margin of 15.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The business had revenue of $65.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.73 million. On average, research analysts predict that First Business Financial Services will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

First Business Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. First Business Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.04%.

Institutional Trading of First Business Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBIZ. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Business Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $125,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Business Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Business Financial Services by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 537,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,893,000 after buying an additional 7,871 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in First Business Financial Services by 1.2% during the second quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 353,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,084,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in First Business Financial Services by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 37,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. 60.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Business Financial Services

First Business Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for First Business Bank that provides commercial banking products and services for small and medium-sized businesses, business owners, executives, professionals, and high net worth individuals in Wisconsin, Kansas, and Missouri.