Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 163.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,819 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.06% of First Bancorp worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,049,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $236,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 37,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,864,000 after buying an additional 418,752 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after buying an additional 9,140 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FBNC. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stephens initiated coverage on First Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $36.44 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.99. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. Analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.83%.

First Bancorp Profile

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.