Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $3.87 Million in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 254,719 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,872,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in First Bank by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 835,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,703,000 after purchasing an additional 161,761 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,159,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in First Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $827,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Bank by 4.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,633,000 after buying an additional 38,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Bank by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 384,047 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,838,000 after purchasing an additional 22,452 shares during the last quarter. 64.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

First Bank Stock Performance

FRBA opened at $14.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $290.03 million, a P/E ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.19. First Bank has a 52-week low of $11.20 and a 52-week high of $15.87.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $58.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Bank will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.