American Century Companies Inc. Sells 453,111 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,088,807 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 453,111 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 4.42% of First BanCorp. worth $156,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Choreo LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 4.7% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in First BanCorp. by 5.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 0.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 151,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in First BanCorp. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,217 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In other news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 34,122 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.11, for a total value of $754,437.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,391,537.07. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roberto R. Herencia sold 4,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total transaction of $106,881.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 637,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,415,739.97. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FBP. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $24.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of First BanCorp. in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.58.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of FBP opened at $21.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.87. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $16.40 and a 1-year high of $23.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.30.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 27.48%.The company had revenue of $257.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.21%.

About First BanCorp.

First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) is a financial holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Through its principal banking subsidiary, FirstBank Puerto Rico, the company offers a comprehensive range of banking services including commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, cash management solutions and treasury services. It also provides mortgage origination and servicing, equipment leasing, investment management, and insurance agency services.

In its commercial banking segment, First BanCorp serves small and midsize enterprises as well as large corporate clients, delivering tailored credit facilities, letters of credit, and foreign trade financing.