Point72 Asset Management leader Steven Cohen ( Trades , Portfolio ) disclosed a stake in First Bancorp ( FBNC ) on Dec. 12.
The billionaire investor uses a bottom-up approach to identify discretionary long-short equities. Managing a portfolio of 845 holdings, Cohen is largely invested in the consumer cyclical and health care sectors.
Cohen invested in 12.1 million shares of First Bancorp, giving it 1.95% portfolio space.
The North Carolina-based bank holding company has a market cap of $1.09 billion; its shares were trading around $36.72 on Thursday with a price-earnings ratio of 21.33, a price-book ratio of 1.69 and a price-sales ratio of 4.48.
According to the Peter Lynch chart below, the stock is trading above its fair value.
GuruFocus ranked First Bancorp's financial strength 4 of 10 and its profitability and growth 3 of 10. The company's trailing dividend yield is 0.86% and its forward dividend yield is 0.87%. The dividend payout ratio is 19%.
For the third quarter, the company posted earnings per share of 53 cents, beating estimates of 49 cents and increasing from 23 cents in the prior-year quarter. Net interest income for the quarter was $41.6 million, a 37.2% increase from the year-ago quarter.
The bank noted the improvement in its performance was partially due to the absence of a non-recurring expense which had hurt its third-quarter 2016 results. Last year, First Bancorp was impacted by the termination of a loss share agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which caused the bank to incur $5.7 million in additional indemnification asset expenses. This was partially offset by an "exchange of branches" with another regional bank, which resulted in a gain of $1.4 million.
The company was also boosted by Carolina Bank Holdings Inc., which it acquired in March.
Cohen is now the bank's largest guru shareholder with 5.6% of the company. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) also owns the stock.
GuruFocus estimates the stock has gained approximately 35% year to date.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
