First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Research Coverage Started at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $48.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.33.

First Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ FBNC opened at $42.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $29.53 and a 12-month high of $50.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.58 and its 200-day moving average is $42.68.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 507,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,306,000 after buying an additional 13,450 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 37,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 163.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 25,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 15,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 220.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,351,000 after buying an additional 71,977 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.