The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 50,100 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the July 31st total of 53,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WASHINGTON TRUST Co purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in First Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Bright Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in First Bancorp by 7.7% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 16,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.41% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:FNLC opened at $27.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.19. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $21.77 and a 1 year high of $29.75.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. First Bancorp had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The firm had revenue of $19.23 million during the quarter.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. This is a boost from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 58.06%.

About First Bancorp

The First Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment.