Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 149,527 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,504,821 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 149,527 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.92% of First BanCorp. worth $28,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 6.1% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,592,504 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,528,000 after buying an additional 91,954 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 27.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 33,131 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 23.6% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 20,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 3,850 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 7.1% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 45,139 shares of the bank’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 32,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Trading Up 0.0%

FBP stock opened at $21.3050 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.96. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $16.40 and a 52 week high of $22.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.96.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.71% and a return on equity of 17.54%. The business had revenue of $246.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

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.