First Bancorp Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 (NASDAQ:FBNC)

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

First Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years. First Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Bancorp to earn $3.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

First Bancorp Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $40.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 1.04. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $29.53 and a 1-year high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. Analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FBNC. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

About First Bancorp

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides banking products and services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The company accepts deposit products, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts.