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

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

First Bancorp has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. First Bancorp has a payout ratio of 24.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Bancorp to earn $3.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

First Bancorp Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $40.33 on Friday. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $29.53 and a 1 year high of $50.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.17 and a 200 day moving average of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FBNC. Stephens assumed coverage on First Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

About First Bancorp

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.