First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Separately, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Price Performance

First Bank stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.02. The stock had a trading volume of 42,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,667. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.76 and its 200 day moving average is $14.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.94 million, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.94. First Bank has a one year low of $11.20 and a one year high of $15.87.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $58.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.96 million. First Bank had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Bank will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRBA. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $827,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Bank by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,208,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,612,000 after purchasing an additional 7,413 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Bank by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 38,256 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bank in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of First Bank by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 97,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575 shares during the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Bank Company Profile

First Bank provides various banking products and services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. The company accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as commercial checking accounts.