Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Purchases 20,489 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 20,489 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FBP. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in First BanCorp. by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 161.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the second quarter worth approximately $78,000. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the first quarter worth approximately $347,000. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP stock opened at $27.40 on Tuesday. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $19.16 and a fifty-two week high of $29.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.84.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $260.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.32 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 28.67%. Analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 2.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 33.76%.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In other First BanCorp. news, Director Roberto R. Herencia sold 26,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.48, for a total value of $750,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 610,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,853.12. The trade was a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,494,919.62. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $1,328,248. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First BanCorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of First BanCorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.86.

First BanCorp. Profile

First BanCorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its principal subsidiary, FirstBank Puerto Rico, provides a broad range of financial products and services to individuals, businesses and government-related entities. The company’s offerings include consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, deposit accounts, cash-management services, credit cards, electronic banking and other financial solutions.

FirstBank serves customers through a network of branches, automated teller machines and digital banking channels.