VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 45,750 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al reduced its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 77,850 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 45,750 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FBP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 42,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 8,419 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 96,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 4,236 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 328.8% during 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 516,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,911,000 after acquiring an additional 29,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 1,445.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 430,329 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,249,000 after acquiring an additional 402,488 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBP has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.86.

First BanCorp. Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE FBP opened at $23.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $19.16 and a 12 month high of $24.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.28 and a 200-day moving average of $21.51.

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

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.56%.

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.