Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Takes Position in First BanCorp. $FBP

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,351 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in First BanCorp. by 24.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 42,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 8,419 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 96,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 328.8% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,262 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 516,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,911,000 after buying an additional 29,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 1,445.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 430,329 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,249,000 after buying an additional 402,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on FBP. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First BanCorp. from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.88.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of FBP stock opened at $27.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.09. First BanCorp. has a twelve month low of $19.16 and a twelve month high of $27.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.82.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 28.31%.The firm had revenue of $258.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.56%.

First BanCorp. Company Profile

First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) is a financial holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Through its principal banking subsidiary, FirstBank Puerto Rico, the company offers a comprehensive range of banking services including commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, cash management solutions and treasury services. It also provides mortgage origination and servicing, equipment leasing, investment management, and insurance agency services.

In its commercial banking segment, First BanCorp serves small and midsize enterprises as well as large corporate clients, delivering tailored credit facilities, letters of credit, and foreign trade financing.