First Bancorp Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 (NASDAQ:FBNC)

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

First Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years. First Bancorp has a payout ratio of 29.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Bancorp to earn $3.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.9%.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

FBNC traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,115. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.53. First Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.00 and a 52-week high of $38.51.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $97.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.63 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 19.06%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in First Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 99,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in First Bancorp by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in First Bancorp by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 114,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 82,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 22,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,789,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,228,000 after purchasing an additional 52,812 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Company 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.