First BanCorp. $FBP Stake Cut by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 399,227 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,317 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $8,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,467,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $445,017,000 after purchasing an additional 413,557 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,207,765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,781,000 after acquiring an additional 148,822 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,284,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,365,000 after buying an additional 548,164 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,005,383 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,259,000 after buying an additional 157,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 82.9% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,434,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,878,000 after buying an additional 649,987 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial raised First BanCorp. from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised First BanCorp. from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.86.

First BanCorp. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of First BanCorp. stock opened at $24.31 on Friday. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $19.16 and a 12 month high of $24.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.94.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 28th. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 35.56%.

About First BanCorp.

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.