First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Short Interest Update

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 829,200 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 918,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 195,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FBNC. 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 First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,862,000 after buying an additional 77,074 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,864,000 after acquiring an additional 418,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 976,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,628,000 after buying an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after acquiring an additional 9,140 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in First Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 797,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,058,000 after purchasing an additional 18,749 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $43.19 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.44. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $29.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47 and a beta of 1.04.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. On average, analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

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.