New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $168,000 Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 9,061 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $168,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of First BanCorp. in the 4th quarter worth about $35,275,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 267.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 705,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,107,000 after acquiring an additional 513,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 3.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,193,684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $194,630,000 after acquiring an additional 347,271 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,792,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 106.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 367,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,779,000 after purchasing an additional 189,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total transaction of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 176,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,656,606.50. The trade was a 5.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $19.38 on Thursday. First BanCorp. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $22.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.87.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 24.37%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 39.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FBP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

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.