First BanCorp. $FBP Shares Purchased by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 48.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,890 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 131,293 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.25% of First BanCorp. worth $8,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 21.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 26,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First BanCorp. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,053,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $464,235,000 after buying an additional 152,742 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 15.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,407,825 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,043,000 after acquiring an additional 184,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in First BanCorp. by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 99,442 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at First BanCorp.

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

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP opened at $21.11 on Monday. First BanCorp. has a 1 year low of $16.40 and a 1 year high of $23.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $256.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.21%.

First BanCorp. Company Profile

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.