First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

First Financial Bankshares has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. First Financial Bankshares has a payout ratio of 39.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Financial Bankshares to earn $1.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.3%.

First Financial Bankshares Stock Performance

FFIN stock opened at $38.19 on Wednesday. First Financial Bankshares has a 1 year low of $27.62 and a 1 year high of $44.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.55.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. First Financial Bankshares had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 14.24%. On average, research analysts predict that First Financial Bankshares will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael B. Denny sold 7,000 shares of First Financial Bankshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.12, for a total transaction of $287,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 101,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,156,615.20. The trade was a 6.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO F Scott Dueser sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.73, for a total transaction of $1,018,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 471,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,183,992.92. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on FFIN shares. Hovde Group upped their target price on First Financial Bankshares from $34.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

About First Financial Bankshares

First Financial Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts.