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

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 13th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th.

First Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years. First Bancorp has a payout ratio of 30.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Bancorp to earn $2.84 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 31.0%.

First Bancorp Stock Up 2.9 %

First Bancorp stock opened at $42.43 on Friday. First Bancorp has a one year low of $26.00 and a one year high of $45.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.86 and a 200 day moving average of $35.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.03.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 8.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Bancorp

In other First Bancorp news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $989,748.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total value of $30,500.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,648.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total value of $989,748.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 7th.

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.