First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.25.

FBNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised First Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Piper Sandler cut First Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised First Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.8%

First Bancorp stock opened at $55.19 on Friday. First Bancorp has a 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $62.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.77.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $83.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.43 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 10.41%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.33%.

Insider Activity at First Bancorp

In related news, insider Mary Clara Capel sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.31, for a total transaction of $296,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,924. This trade represents a 19.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 10,142 shares of company stock worth $592,276 in the last quarter. 3.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,849,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,722,000 after purchasing an additional 11,439 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,012,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,661,000 after buying an additional 169,363 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 48.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,314,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,516,000 after buying an additional 429,769 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 726,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,892,000 after buying an additional 123,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 39.4% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 576,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,502,000 after buying an additional 163,026 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Bancorp Company Profile

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services. Its core offerings include business lending, treasury and cash management, residential and commercial mortgage financing, and consumer deposit products. Through its subsidiary, First Bank provides online and branch-based banking solutions, including checking and savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and digital banking tools designed to meet the needs of individuals, small- to mid-sized businesses, and professional institutions.

The company maintains a network of full-service banking centers and loan production offices across North Carolina and South Carolina, with a focus on markets in the Piedmont, Sandhills and coastal regions.