Bailard Inc. Takes Position in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 28,286 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 161,761 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of First Bank by 217.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 24,746 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Bank by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in First Bank by 64.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,462 shares of the bank’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 20,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in First Bank by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 384,047 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,838,000 after buying an additional 22,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Bank Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of First Bank stock opened at $14.99 on Wednesday. First Bank has a 12-month low of $11.20 and a 12-month high of $15.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.34 million, a P/E ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.74.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect that First Bank will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. First Bank’s payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

First Bank Profile

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.