First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) PT Raised to $45.00

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $40.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 14.39% from the company’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FBNC opened at $39.34 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 1.03. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $40.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $92.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.12 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 20.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $30,500.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,648.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBNC. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in 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. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.5% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 33,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in First Bancorp by 6.2% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.