First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Reaches New 12-Month High at $45.49

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.49 and last traded at $45.49, with a volume of 439 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

First Bancorp Stock Up 5.3 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 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 current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.77%.

Insider Transactions at First Bancorp

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 17,233.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $185,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Company Profile

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.