First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Price Target Raised to $51.00

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) had its price target lifted by Piper Sandler from $48.00 to $51.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

FBNC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens increased 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $48.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.96.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 8.96%. Analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 39.32%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 585,338 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 587,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,884,000 after purchasing an additional 142,765 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,046,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,846,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 77,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.