Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by investment analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $57.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $53.00. Stephens’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.87% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of First Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.67.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $48.36 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $44.59 and a 200-day moving average of $42.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.96. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.12.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in First Bancorp by 1,412.9% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Bancorp by 807.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Company Profile

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.