State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,276 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,698 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of First BanCorp. worth $2,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FBP. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 0.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 176,964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in First BanCorp. by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 57,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in First BanCorp. by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. FCG Investment Co increased its holdings in First BanCorp. by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 30,111 shares of the bank’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In other news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 236,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,011,223.10. This represents a 9.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 1,944 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $41,815.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,476 shares in the company, valued at $1,881,608.76. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,556 shares of company stock worth $736,365 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of First BanCorp. stock opened at $20.93 on Friday. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $14.72 and a 1-year high of $22.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $234.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.51 million. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.94% and a return on equity of 19.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FBP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group reduced their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.40.

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.