5,351 Shares in First Bancorp $FBNC Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. has acquired 5,351 shares of First Bancorp, valued at approximately $236,000, indicating growing interest from institutional investors in the financial services provider.
• First Bancorp recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.18 to $0.23 per share, representing a 1.8% annual yield.
• Despite a handful of analysts rating the stock as "Hold," the consensus target price for First Bancorp is $56.67, with some analysts providing optimistic price objectives up to $62.00.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $546,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in First Bancorp by 4,012.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 55,613 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in First Bancorp by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in First Bancorp by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of First Bancorp in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded First Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.67.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $52.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $52.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.63. First Bancorp has a 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $56.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35 and a beta of 1.01.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $111.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.22 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 8.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from First Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. First Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.32%.

First Bancorp 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.

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