The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) Short Interest Update

The First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:FNLC) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 57,100 shares, a growth of 52.3% from the June 30th total of 37,500 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 17,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FNLC. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 32.5% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 52,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,935 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in First Bancorp by 89.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in First Bancorp by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME raised its stake in First Bancorp by 0.8% during the second quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 732,959 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,214,000 after acquiring an additional 5,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.41% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FNLC stock opened at $29.44 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $327.96 million, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.08. First Bancorp has a one year low of $21.77 and a one year high of $29.75.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 58.06%.

About First Bancorp

The First Bancorp, Inc operates as the holding company for First National Bank that provides a range of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers various deposit products, including demand, NOW, time, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company also provides commercial loans comprising commercial real estate owner occupied, such as mortgage loans to finance investments in real property such as retail space, offices, industrial buildings, hotels, educational facilities, and other specific or mixed use properties; commercial real estate non-owner occupied loans; commercial construction to finance construction in a mix of owner- and nonowner occupied commercial real estate properties; and commercial and industrial loans, including revolving and term loan for financing working capital and/or capital investment.