Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in First BanCorp. $FBP

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 13.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 109,919 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 13,172 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $2,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FBP. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 93.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in First BanCorp. by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 34,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in First BanCorp. by 3,703.7% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 60,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 58,519 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the first quarter valued at approximately $581,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $25.00 price objective on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of First BanCorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First BanCorp. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

NYSE FBP opened at $20.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.01. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $16.40 and a fifty-two week high of $22.60.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $30.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.25 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.45% and a net margin of 26.73%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 34.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Aurelio Aleman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.30, for a total value of $1,115,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,059,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,627,898.10. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About First BanCorp.

First BanCorp. operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and commercial customers. The company operates through six segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mortgage Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations.