Short Interest in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Declines By 17.6%

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 74,700 shares, a decrease of 17.6% from the August 15th total of 90,700 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 54,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut First Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Bank from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

First Bank Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ FRBA traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $15.42. The stock had a trading volume of 65,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,645. The stock has a market cap of $301.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.25. First Bank has a 52-week low of $10.51 and a 52-week high of $15.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. First Bank had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $56.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Bank will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. First Bank’s payout ratio is 21.24%.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in First Bank in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in First Bank by 88.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in First Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $162,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Bank during the first quarter worth $293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.