What You Should Know About First Bancorp’s (NASDAQ:FBNC) Liquidity
As a small-cap bank stock with a market capitalisation of US$1.1b, First Bancorp’s (NASDAQ:FBNC) risk and profitability are largely determined by the underlying economic growth of the US regions in which it operates. A bank’s cash flow is directly impacted by economic growth as it is the main driver of deposit levels and demand for loans which it profits from. After the GFC, a set of reforms called Basel III was imposed in order to strengthen regulation, supervision and risk management in the banking sector. These reforms target banking regulations and intends to enhance financial institutions’ ability to absorb shocks resulting from economic stress which could expose banks like First Bancorp to vulnerabilities. Since its financial standing can unexpectedly decline in the case of an adverse macro event such as political instability, it is important to understand how prudent the bank is at managing its risk levels. Sufficient liquidity and low levels of leverage could place the bank in a safe place in case of unexpected macro headwinds. Today we will be measuring First Bancorp’s financial risk position by looking at three leverage and liquidity metrics.
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Why Does FBNC’s Leverage Matter?
A low level of leverage subjects a bank to less risk and enhances its ability to pay back its debtors. Leverage can be thought of as the amount of assets a bank owns relative to its shareholders’ funds. While financial companies will always have some leverage for a sufficient capital buffer, First Bancorp’s leverage ratio of less than the suitable maximum level of 20x, at 7.69x, is considered to be very cautious and prudent. This means the bank exhibits very strong leverage management and is well-positioned to repay its debtors in the case of any adverse events since it has an appropriately high level of equity relative to the debt it has taken on to remain in business. Should the bank need to increase its debt levels to meet capital requirements, it will have abundant headroom to do so.
What Is FBNC’s Level of Liquidity?
As abovementioned, loans are quite illiquid so it is important to understand how much of these loans make up First Bancorp’s total assets. Normally, they should not exceed 70% of total assets, but its current level of 73% means the bank has lent out 3.01% above the sensible upper limit. This level implies dependency on this particular asset class as a source of revenue which makes the bank more exposed to defaulting relative to banks with less loans.
What is FBNC’s Liquidity Discrepancy?
A way banks make money is by lending out its deposits as loans. These loans tend to be fixed term which means they cannot be readily realized, conversely, on the liability side, customer deposits must be paid in very short notice and on-demand. The disparity between the immediacy of deposits compared to the illiquid nature of loans puts pressure on the bank’s financial position if an adverse event requires the bank to repay its depositors. Since First Bancorp’s loan to deposit ratio of 92% is higher than the appropriate level of 90%, this level places the bank in a relatively dangerous territory to go into negative discrepancy in liquidity. Basically, for $1 of deposits with the bank, it lends out over $0.9 which is imprudent.
Next Steps:
Keep in mind that a stock investment requires research on more than just its operational side. Below, I’ve compiled three pertinent aspects you should further research:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for FBNC’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for FBNC’s outlook.
Valuation: What is FBNC worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether FBNC is currently mispriced by the market.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
