First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.6667.

FBNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised First Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stephens lifted their price objective on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

First Bancorp Stock Down 1.5%

FBNC opened at $54.36 on Tuesday. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23 and a beta of 1.00.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.22 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 17.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 39.32%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 372.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,654,000 after buying an additional 585,338 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $17,999,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 587,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,884,000 after buying an additional 142,765 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $4,046,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $3,846,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Bancorp

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides banking products and services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The company accepts deposit products, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts.