First BanCorp. $FBP Shares Purchased by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 334,075 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,239 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.21% of First BanCorp. worth $6,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cynosure Group LLC raised its holdings in First BanCorp. by 21.2% during the second quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 21,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,541,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,098,000 after buying an additional 616,170 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the 2nd quarter worth $921,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 5.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 41,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 5.9% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 36,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on FBP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group set a $25.00 price target on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of First BanCorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First BanCorp. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP opened at $19.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. First BanCorp. has a one year low of $16.40 and a one year high of $22.60.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 26.73% and a return on equity of 17.45%. The business had revenue of $248.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

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.