FJ Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 66,625 First BanCorp. $FBP

FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 66,625 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,138,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 767.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,262,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,832,000 after buying an additional 1,116,791 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 82.9% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,434,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,878,000 after buying an additional 649,987 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 31.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,284,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,365,000 after buying an additional 548,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,533,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded First BanCorp. from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First BanCorp. from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised First BanCorp. from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First BanCorp. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $25.86.

First BanCorp. Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of FBP stock opened at $25.49 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.12. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $19.16 and a 1-year high of $25.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 28.31%.The firm had revenue of $258.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.