First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• First Bancorp was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating by Zacks Research, amidst mixed analyst ratings with two remaining at "Buy" and three at "Hold".
• Despite the downgrade, analysts such as Piper Sandler and Stephens have increased their price targets for the stock, with one target now set at $62.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.93 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and indicating a strong net margin of 17.65%.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

FBNC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.67.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $52.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.38. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $34.50 and a fifty-two week high of $56.45.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $111.02 million during 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%. Equities research analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $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 valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 55,613 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $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 valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 6,709 shares during the period. 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 valued at $8,262,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

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.

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