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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday.

Separately, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRBA opened at $14.72 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.01. The company has a market cap of $288.07 million, a P/E ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. First Bank has a one year low of $11.20 and a one year high of $15.87.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Bank will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRBA. IAM Advisory LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in First Bank by 2.1% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 72,764 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in First Bank by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 60,582 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First Bank by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 84,509 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 4,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Bank by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 469,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 5,105 shares in the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.