First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on First Bank from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target (up from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of First Bank from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $19.67.

First Bank Stock Performance

Shares of FRBA opened at $19.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $500.24 million, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.53. First Bank has a 12 month low of $14.40 and a 12 month high of $21.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.09.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.05. First Bank had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $38.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.70 million. Equities research analysts predict that First Bank will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in First Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $243,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bank by 3,353.5% in the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,437 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 14,990 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Bank by 10.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,681 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of First Bank in the second quarter valued at about $283,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

First Bank Company Profile

First Bank (NASDAQ: FRBA) is a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Hamilton, New Jersey. Founded in 2007, the bank provides banking services to businesses, individuals and organizations in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage loans, consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, cash-management services and online banking. First Bank emphasizes relationship-based banking and serves small and mid-sized businesses, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individual customers.

First Bank operates a network of branches in central and southern New Jersey and the greater Philadelphia region.