First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Business Financial Services from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of First Business Financial Services in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised First Business Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

First Business Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:FBIZ opened at $43.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. First Business Financial Services has a 1-year low of $31.39 and a 1-year high of $47.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.48.

First Business Financial Services (NASDAQ:FBIZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. First Business Financial Services had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 15.46%. The business had revenue of $66.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Business Financial Services will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Business Financial Services

In other news, CEO James Edward Hartlieb sold 6,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.15, for a total transaction of $273,743.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,215,190.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth approximately $125,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of First Business Financial Services by 73.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, ERn Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Business Financial Services during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.07% of the company’s stock.

First Business Financial Services Company Profile

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.