Short Interest in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Increases By 65.5%

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,600 shares, an increase of 65.5% from the February 28th total of 48,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 55,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Bank by 1,307.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,737,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,803,000 after acquiring an additional 6,259,053 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of First Bank by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 890,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,534,000 after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Bank by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 890,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,529,000 after purchasing an additional 23,012 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in First Bank by 24.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 835,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after buying an additional 161,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Bank by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 469,214 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after buying an additional 5,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

First Bank Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of FRBA traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.67. 42,639 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,716. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.94 and its 200-day moving average is $14.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. First Bank has a fifty-two week low of $11.20 and a fifty-two week high of $15.87. The company has a market cap of $287.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78 and a beta of 0.94.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. First Bank had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 11.06%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Bank will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut First Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.