Is First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

Diamond Hill Capital, an investment management firm, published its “Diamond Hill Small Cap Fund” first quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The portfolio outpaced the Russell 2000® Index in the quarter with positive absolute results across all sectors. You can view the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a peek at their top bets for 2021.

Diamond Hill Capital, in its Q1 2021 investor letter, mentioned First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIBK), and shared their insights on the company. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. is a Billings, Montana-based bank holding company that currently has a $2.8 billion market capitalization. Since the beginning of the year, FIBK delivered a 13.56% return, extending its 12-month gains to 57.64%. As of May 21, 2021, the stock closed at $46.30 per share.

Here is what Diamond Hill Capital has to say about First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“We added just one new name to the portfolio in Q1—First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK). FIBK, based in Billings, MT, fits the description of having carved out a specialized niche and having a strong geographic footprint. Thanks to a recent technology investment cycle, it appears positioned to benefit in the years ahead in its attractive, growing markets.”

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Our calculations show that First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIBK) does not belong in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. was in 14 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 11 funds in the fourth quarter of 2020. FIBK delivered a 4.37% return in the past 3 months.

The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 231.2% between 2015 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 126 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed biased information by other media outlets about hedge funds’ poor performance. You could have doubled the size of your nest egg by investing in the top hedge fund stocks instead of dumb S&P 500 ETFs. Here you can watch our video about the top 5 hedge fund stocks right now. All of these stocks had positive returns in 2020.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.