First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

FBNC opened at $42.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.12. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.00 and a fifty-two week high of $45.41.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In other First Bancorp news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $780,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,974,069.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other First Bancorp news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $780,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,974,069.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $89,115.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,099.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,586 shares of company stock worth $1,859,154 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBNC. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in First Bancorp by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.5% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 33,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in First Bancorp by 6.2% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 35,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.