BlackRock Inc. Has $378.97 Million Stock Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

BlackRock Inc. decreased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP – Get Rating) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,702,614 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,150,208 shares during the quarter. BlackRock Inc. owned about 15.01% of First BanCorp. worth $378,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,679,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $179,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,862 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,254,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,651,000 after acquiring an additional 968,081 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of First BanCorp. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,473,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 389.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 904,256 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,864,000 after acquiring an additional 719,644 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,795,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,178,000 after acquiring an additional 679,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded First BanCorp. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

FBP opened at $12.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.15. First BanCorp. has a 1 year low of $12.31 and a 1 year high of $16.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). First BanCorp. had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 20.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 35.22%.

First BanCorp. Profile

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First BanCorp (Puerto Rico) is a holding company, which engages in the provision of personal, commercial, and corporate banking services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Mortgage Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations.