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

Key Points

• First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price of approximately $53.67.
• The company's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.93 compared to the estimated $0.88, alongside a significant net margin of 17.65%.
• First Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, resulting in a 1.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 39.32%.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBNC. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 372.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,654,000 after acquiring an additional 585,338 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,999,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 587,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,884,000 after purchasing an additional 142,765 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,046,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in First Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

First Bancorp Price Performance

First Bancorp stock traded up $0.0450 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.1450. The company had a trading volume of 52,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,649. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.23.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.22 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. First Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.32%.

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.