Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Stock Holdings in First BanCorp. $FBP

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,784,804 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 211,354 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.11% of First BanCorp. worth $37,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FBP. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in First BanCorp. during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 328.8% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,950 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,262 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 191.2% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 93.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on shares of First BanCorp. in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of First BanCorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial cut their target price on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First BanCorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of FBP opened at $20.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. First BanCorp. has a 1 year low of $16.40 and a 1 year high of $22.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.91.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $248.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.25 million. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 26.73% and a return on equity of 17.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

First BanCorp. 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.