SageView Advisory Group LLC Buys New Shares in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 25,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 35,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 117,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,331,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In other First Bancorp news, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $30,500.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,648.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.67. The company had a trading volume of 71,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,165. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.43. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $39.37.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $92.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.12 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.77%.

About First Bancorp

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.