First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 25.82%. The firm had revenue of $302.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share.

First BanCorp. Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of FBP opened at $17.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.76. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $10.18 and a 1-year high of $17.74.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.16 dividend. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First BanCorp. from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on First BanCorp. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total value of $998,784.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,708,007.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other First BanCorp. news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $998,784.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,708,007.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 15,000 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total transaction of $256,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 246,930 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 132,600 shares of company stock valued at $2,278,784 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About First BanCorp.

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.