First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on FRBA. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on First Bank from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on First Bank from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised First Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.67.

First Bank Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FRBA opened at $19.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.09. First Bank has a 52-week low of $14.40 and a 52-week high of $21.29. The firm has a market cap of $500.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. First Bank had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $38.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.70 million. Equities analysts predict that First Bank will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bank

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Bank by 3,353.5% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,437 shares of the bank’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 14,990 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in First Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,257,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in First Bank during the second quarter worth approximately $283,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

About First Bank

First Bank (NASDAQ: FRBA) is a community-focused commercial bank headquartered in Hamilton, New Jersey. Founded in 2007, the bank provides banking services to businesses, individuals and organizations in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage loans, consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, cash-management services and online banking. First Bank emphasizes relationship-based banking and serves small and mid-sized businesses, professionals, nonprofit organizations and individual customers.

First Bank operates a network of branches in central and southern New Jersey and the greater Philadelphia region.