First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Short Interest Up 7.1% in November

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 791,600 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the November 15th total of 739,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 178,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Insider Activity at First Bancorp

In related news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $89,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 65,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,099.86. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in First Bancorp by 20.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,784,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,649,000 after acquiring an additional 297,144 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,104,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,166,000 after buying an additional 136,002 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 802,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,615,000 after buying an additional 124,992 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in First Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,568,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 28.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 423,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,612,000 after acquiring an additional 93,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

FBNC traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.35. 241,126 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,871. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.04. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $29.53 and a 1-year high of $50.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $144.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, January 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.48%.

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.