First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRBA opened at $14.71 on Friday. First Bank has a 52-week low of $11.20 and a 52-week high of $15.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $287.86 million, a P/E ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.86.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $58.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.96 million. First Bank had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Bank will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. First Bank’s payout ratio is 15.09%.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in First Bank by 24.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 835,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after buying an additional 161,761 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,159,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bank in the third quarter worth approximately $827,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Bank by 4.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 38,256 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in First Bank by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 384,047 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,838,000 after purchasing an additional 22,452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

About First Bank

First Bank provides various banking products and services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. The company accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as commercial checking accounts.