First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $2,012.11.

FCNCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,005.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush cut First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $2,450.00 to $2,150.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James raised First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,900.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the first quarter worth $33,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the first quarter worth $49,000. 61.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA opened at $1,945.48 on Tuesday. First Citizens BancShares has a 12-month low of $1,290.60 and a 12-month high of $2,174.80. The stock has a market cap of $28.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,942.79 and a 200-day moving average of $1,787.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $44.91 by $5.96. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $52.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares will post 200.92 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is presently 3.64%.

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.