HighTower Advisors LLC Invests $424,000 in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,275,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 8.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 84,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after buying an additional 6,628 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $659,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 165.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 34,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 21,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 493,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,539,000 after acquiring an additional 14,737 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Up 2.6 %

First Bancorp stock opened at $44.69 on Friday. 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 cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.65.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 8.00%. The firm had revenue of $144.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.00 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, January 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $89,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 65,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,099.86. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.