First Financial Bankshares (Nasdaq: FFIN) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 20. First Financial Bankshares is a financial holding company, which through its subsidiary banks, conducts full-service commercial banking business.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on First Financial Bankshares with analysts unanimously rating it hold. Analysts don't like First Financial Bankshares as much as competitor Texas Capital Bancshares overall. Seven out of 11 analysts rate Texas Capital Bancshares a buy compared to zero of eight for First Financial Bankshares. First Financial Bankshares' rating hasn't changed over the past three months.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $53.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.9% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.54 per share. Estimates range from $0.53 to $0.56.

What our community says:
Most CAPS All-Stars are skeptical of FFIN prospects, with 55% awarding it an "underperform" rating. While the All-Stars do not like FFIN, the community likes it with 60.8% granting it an "overperform" rating. The Fool community, on the other hand, is more skeptical with 39.2% assigning it an "underperform" rating. Fools are skeptical of First Financial Bankshares, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 23 posts in the past 30 days. First Financial Bankshares' bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
First Financial Bankshares' profit has risen year over year by an average of 18.7% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q2 Q1 Q4 Q3
Net Margin 31.7% 31.0% 29.9% 32.3%
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