Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Bancorp by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,862,000 after acquiring an additional 77,074 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,864,000 after acquiring an additional 418,752 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 9,140 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 372.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,654,000 after acquiring an additional 585,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 486,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,403,000 after acquiring an additional 63,311 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens increased their target price on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on First Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.33.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $47.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.83. First Bancorp has a 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $50.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $105.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.81 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 16.08%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 43.60%.

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.