Fourthstone LLC Makes New Investment in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,087 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Bank during the third quarter worth $1,159,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $827,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,256 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Bank during the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Bank by 1,377.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 21,935 shares of the bank’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 20,450 shares in the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bank Stock Performance

Shares of FRBA traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $14.72. 16,215 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,914. 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 0.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $288.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.00.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $58.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.96 million. First Bank had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday.

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.