Analysts Set First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) PT at $53.67

Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.6667.

FBNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens lifted their target price 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 74,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $51.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 0.96. 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 12-month low of $34.50 and a 12-month high of $53.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.99.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.22 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.