First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Short Interest Up 6.8% in October

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,700 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the September 30th total of 42,800 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 46,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $827,000. IAM Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bank by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 187,430 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 38,256 shares in the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FRBA shares. StockNews.com downgraded First Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a report on Wednesday.

First Bank Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:FRBA traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.00. 44,291 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,081. First Bank has a 12-month low of $11.20 and a 12-month high of $15.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.93. 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 50 day moving average price of $14.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.65.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $58.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.96 million. First Bank had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 11.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Bank will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. First Bank's payout ratio is 15.09%.

About First Bank

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.