Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Position in First BanCorp. $FBP

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,453 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 38,608 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.32% of First BanCorp. worth $10,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,467,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $445,017,000 after purchasing an additional 413,557 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in First BanCorp. by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,334,297 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,850,000 after acquiring an additional 126,532 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,659,149 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,856,000 after buying an additional 171,580 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 31.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,284,146 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,365,000 after buying an additional 548,164 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter worth about $42,138,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FBP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded First BanCorp. from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First BanCorp. has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $26.57.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

First BanCorp. stock opened at $26.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First BanCorp. has a 52-week low of $19.16 and a 52-week high of $26.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.69.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 28.31% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business had revenue of $258.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is presently 35.56%.

First BanCorp. 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.