First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on FRBA. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Bank from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Bank in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

First Bank Stock Performance

FRBA opened at $17.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $445.02 million, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.55. First Bank has a 52-week low of $14.40 and a 52-week high of $18.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $15.97 and its 200-day moving average is $16.35.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The bank reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $36.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.98 million. First Bank had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 9.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Bank will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Bank by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 78,677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in First Bank by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 95,139 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in First Bank by 3.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 30,316 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

First Bank Company Profile

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. It also offers various loan products comprising commercial and industrial loans, which include line of credit, inventory, equipment, and short-term working capital financing; commercial real estate loans, such as owner-occupied, investor, construction and development, and multi-family loans; residential real estate loans comprising residential mortgages, first and second lien home equity loans, and revolving lines of credit; and consumer and other loans consists of auto, personal, traditional installment, and other loans.