First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) Raises Dividend to $0.12 Per Share

First Bank (NASDAQ:FRBA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share by the bank on Friday, November 20th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This is a 33.3% increase from First Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

First Bank has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years. First Bank has a payout ratio of 19.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Bank to earn $1.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.9%.

First Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRBA opened at $18.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.18. First Bank has a 52 week low of $14.40 and a 52 week high of $19.33. The stock has a market cap of $465.61 million, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.57. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $38.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.70 million. First Bank had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 17.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Bank will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on FRBA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Bank in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of First Bank in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of First Bank from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on First Bank from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.67.

First Bank Company Profile

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.