Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 4,213 Shares of First Bancorp $FBNC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,213 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.14% of First Bancorp worth $2,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 836,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,592,000 after purchasing an additional 8,510 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 258,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,383,000 after purchasing an additional 15,570 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,262,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 144,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,809,000 after purchasing an additional 9,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 131,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $52.76 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.74 and a 200-day moving average of $45.43. 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 has a 12-month low of $34.50 and a 12-month high of $56.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 1.01.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.22 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of First Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.67.

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.