Bank of America Corp DE Buys 6,213 Shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,132 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,213 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.27% of First Bank worth $733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

First Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRBA opened at $14.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.27 and a 200-day moving average of $14.50. First Bank has a 52 week low of $11.56 and a 52 week high of $15.87. The company has a market capitalization of $290.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.74.

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

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. First Bank’s payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Hovde Group upped their target price on First Bank from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

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.