Penbrook Management LLC Sells 21,400 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

Penbrook Management LLC cut its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 47.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,500 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,400 shares during the quarter. Penbrook Management LLC’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial raised First BanCorp. from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First BanCorp. from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.86.

First BanCorp. Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $26.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.49. First BanCorp. has a 12-month low of $19.16 and a 12-month high of $26.80.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $258.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.54 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 28.31%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio 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.