First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Short Interest Up 6.8% in October

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,700 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the September 30th total of 42,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 46,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in First Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $827,000. IAM Advisory LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 3rd quarter worth $113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in First Bank in the 2nd quarter worth $162,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Bank by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 834,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,633,000 after acquiring an additional 38,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

First Bank Trading Down 1.1 %

FRBA stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.00. 15,520 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,945. First Bank has a 52-week low of $11.20 and a 52-week high of $15.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.97 and a 200-day moving average of $13.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.93.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06). First Bank had a return on equity of 11.80% and a net margin of 18.19%. The business had revenue of $58.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Bank will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. First Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded First Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

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.