First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Receives $53.67 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.6667.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FBNC. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded First Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

First Bancorp Price Performance

FBNC opened at $52.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.44 and a 200-day moving average of $42.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.96. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $34.50 and a 12-month high of $53.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.22 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 17.65%. Equities analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 39.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBNC. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Bancorp during the first quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in First Bancorp by 2,222.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in First Bancorp by 1,412.9% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Bancorp by 807.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in First Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.