First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Short Interest Down 8.0% in September

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 974,800 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the September 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 195,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

FBNC stock opened at $44.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.29. First Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.00 and a 12 month high of $45.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.11. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $143.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.00 million. As a group, analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total value of $989,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at $8,526,418.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $89,115.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 65,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,099.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $989,748.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 196,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,526,418.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,586 shares of company stock worth $1,859,154. 3.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 24.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 165.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 21,749 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FBNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

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.