Piper Sandler Reiterates "Overweight" Rating for First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Piper Sandler in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $17.00 price objective on the bank's stock, down from their prior price objective of $18.00. Piper Sandler's price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.06% from the company's previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

First Bank Stock Performance

Shares of First Bank stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.40. 26,184 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,172. First Bank has a 1 year low of $10.80 and a 1 year high of $15.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.79 million, a P/E ratio of 12.74 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.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.06). First Bank had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $58.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $32.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First Bank will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bank

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRBA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Bank by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,208,998 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,612,000 after buying an additional 7,413 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $10,633,000 after acquiring an additional 38,256 shares during the period. Capital Market Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bank by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 347,313 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,425,000 after purchasing an additional 15,513 shares in the last quarter. IAM Advisory LLC raised its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in First Bank by 9.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 124,213 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 10,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.86% of the company's stock.

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.