SouthState Corp Has $415,000 Stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

SouthState Corp reduced its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in First Bancorp by 91.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,245,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,078,000 after buying an additional 595,695 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 worth $37,613,000 after acquiring an additional 455,406 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,720,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in First Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $4,071,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First Bancorp by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,848,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,418,000 after purchasing an additional 112,422 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In related news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $989,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 196,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,526,418.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other First Bancorp news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $989,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,648.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $41.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.78. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.00 and a fifty-two week high of $45.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.03.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. The company had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. Sell-side analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.77%.

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.