First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Stephens

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

First Bancorp stock opened at $41.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $29.53 and a 1-year high of $50.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.04.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,862,000 after purchasing an additional 77,074 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in First Bancorp by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,864,000 after acquiring an additional 418,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Bancorp by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 976,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,628,000 after acquiring an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 9,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 797,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,058,000 after acquiring an additional 18,749 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.