First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Business Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIZ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 28,500 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the September 15th total of 25,500 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

First Business Financial Services Trading Up 0.7 %

FBIZ stock traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $44.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,216. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.63. First Business Financial Services has a 12-month low of $28.35 and a 12-month high of $47.23. The firm has a market cap of $369.94 million, a PE ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.08.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.14. First Business Financial Services had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $65.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.73 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Business Financial Services will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

First Business Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. First Business Financial Services’s payout ratio is 23.04%.

Institutional Trading of First Business Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBIZ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,871 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Business Financial Services by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 361,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,540,000 after purchasing an additional 7,499 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in First Business Financial Services by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,196 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Business Financial Services by 1.7% in the first quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 169,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in First Business Financial Services by 7.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 41,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FBIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of First Business Financial Services in a research note on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson raised First Business Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on First Business Financial Services from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Business Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, First Business Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.75.

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.