Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 23,012 Shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 890,493 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,012 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.55% of First Bank worth $12,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRBA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of First Bank by 217.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 24,746 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in First Bank by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Bank by 1,307.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,737,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,803,000 after purchasing an additional 6,259,053 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Bank by 89.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 144,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 68,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bank by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 143,350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 25,965 shares during the period. 64.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FRBA. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of First Bank from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered First Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

First Bank Trading Down 1.7 %

FRBA opened at $14.61 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.27 and its 200-day moving average is $14.47. The company has a market cap of $285.92 million, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.73. First Bank has a 1-year low of $11.20 and a 1-year high of $15.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $33.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.52 million. First Bank had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First Bank will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

First Bank Profile

First Bank provides various banking products and services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. The company accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as commercial checking accounts.