First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.23

by · The Cerbat Gem

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.23 per share by the financial services provider on Sunday, January 25th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st.

First Bancorp has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. First Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 24.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Bancorp to earn $3.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of First Bancorp stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 132,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,045. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.17 and a 200 day moving average of $49.13. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $34.50 and a 1-year high of $56.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.90.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $89.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.47 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.50% and a return on equity of 9.61%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.67.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on First Bancorp

First Bancorp Company Profile

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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.

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