First BanCorp. (FBP) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Tuesday, April 23rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.39 per share for the quarter. Parties interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $299.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.75 million. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 26.19% and a return on equity of 21.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect First BanCorp. to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FBP opened at $16.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $10.18 and a 12 month high of $17.70.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First BanCorp. news, Director Crespo Luz sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.47, for a total transaction of $164,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,405.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other First BanCorp. news, CEO Aurelio Aleman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.17, for a total transaction of $858,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,126,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,339,000.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Crespo Luz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.47, for a total transaction of $164,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,405.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,600 shares of company stock valued at $2,278,784 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First BanCorp.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,863 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 0.3% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 296,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,832,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 15,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 1.5% in the first quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 79,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 5.2% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 23,150 shares of the bank’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

First BanCorp. Company Profile

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.