The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) Short Interest Update

The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 57,100 shares, a growth of 52.3% from the June 30th total of 37,500 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

First Bancorp Stock Down 1.6 %

First Bancorp stock traded down $0.47 on Monday, hitting $28.95. 1,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,598. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $322.50 million, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.08. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $21.77 and a 1 year high of $29.75.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. This is an increase from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the bank’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,905 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 492,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in First Bancorp by 9.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 4,477 shares during the last quarter. 40.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Bancorp

The First Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment.