First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.1 %

FBNC stock opened at $31.52 on Thursday. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $38.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.97 and its 200-day moving average is $33.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.00.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $97.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.63 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 20.58%. Equities analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.77%.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 6.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 91.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,245,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,078,000 after purchasing an additional 595,695 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 585,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,685,000 after purchasing an additional 73,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 556,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,584,000 after buying an additional 14,710 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.