First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down previously from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Price Performance

Shares of First Bank stock opened at $15.07 on Monday. First Bank has a twelve month low of $11.20 and a twelve month high of $15.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $294.92 million, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.60.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. First Bank had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 18.19%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Bank will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRBA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in First Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $3,872,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of First Bank by 24.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 835,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after acquiring an additional 161,761 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in First Bank in the third quarter valued at about $1,159,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in First Bank in the third quarter worth about $827,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Bank by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,633,000 after purchasing an additional 38,256 shares during the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bank Company Profile

First Bank provides various banking products and services to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals. The company accepts various deposits, including non-interest-bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as commercial checking accounts.