Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) had its price target raised by analysts at Stephens from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.98% from the company’s current price.

FBNC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $40.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28 and a beta of 0.89. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.77.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $105.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.81 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. Analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 82.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Bancorp by 807.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $128,000. 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.