First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

Separately, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of First Bank stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.62. The stock had a trading volume of 27,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,307. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.20. The firm has a market cap of $286.11 million, a P/E ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. First Bank has a 12-month low of $11.20 and a 12-month high of $15.87.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). First Bank had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 18.19%. The business had revenue of $58.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $32.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Bank will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. First Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.09%.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in First Bank in the third quarter valued at $827,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Bank by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,633,000 after buying an additional 38,256 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bank during the second quarter worth about $71,000. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Bank by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 97,650 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 20,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.86% of the company's stock.

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.