First BanCorp. $FBP Stock Acquired by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 417.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,450 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,600 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.06% of First BanCorp. worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FBP. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 64.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. acquired a new position in First BanCorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in First BanCorp. by 161.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in First BanCorp. in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in First BanCorp. in the second quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FBP. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First BanCorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.86.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FBP opened at $26.25 on Wednesday. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $19.28 and a 1-year high of $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.00.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.04. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 28.67% and a return on equity of 18.87%. The company had revenue of $260.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.32 million. Sell-side analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 33.76%.

Insider Transactions at First BanCorp.

In other First BanCorp. news, Director Roberto R. Herencia sold 26,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total transaction of $750,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 610,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,853.12. This represents a 4.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total value of $281,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,919.62. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $1,328,248. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Company Profile

First BanCorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its principal subsidiary, FirstBank Puerto Rico, provides a broad range of financial products and services to individuals, businesses and government-related entities. The company’s offerings include consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, deposit accounts, cash-management services, credit cards, electronic banking and other financial solutions.

FirstBank serves customers through a network of branches, automated teller machines and digital banking channels.