First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) to Repurchase $1.20 billion in Stock

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, October 23rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCNCA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $2,300.00 price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $2,475.00 target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,050.00 to $2,100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2,344.00.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

FCNCA traded down $30.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $2,345.61. 142,936 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 75,857. The company has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2,137.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,061.06. First Citizens BancShares has a 1 year low of $1,735.03 and a 1 year high of $2,429.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The bank reported $55.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $46.18 by $9.19. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 193.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total transaction of $136,710.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,950. This represents a 31.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diane Morais acquired 50 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2,168.11 per share, with a total value of $108,405.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,811. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its principal subsidiary, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment services.