Capital Fund Management S.A. Invests $217,000 in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,679 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in First BanCorp. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 394.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FBP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of First BanCorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.40.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total value of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,656,606.50. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

FBP stock opened at $18.02 on Thursday. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $22.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.37% and a return on equity of 18.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.78%.

First BanCorp. Profile

First BanCorp. operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and commercial customers. The company operates through six segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mortgage Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations.