First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Price Target Increased to $45.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.00.

First Bancorp Price Performance

FBNC stock opened at $43.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $26.00 and a 1 year high of $45.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.57.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.00 million. On average, equities analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In other news, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $30,500.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,648.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBNC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,848,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,418,000 after purchasing an additional 112,422 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,041,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,613,000 after buying an additional 455,406 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,789,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,228,000 after acquiring an additional 52,812 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in First Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $4,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.