Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Reduces Stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,750,895 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 207,292 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $37,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FBP. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 131.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,595 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 34,413 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in First BanCorp. in the 2nd quarter worth about $216,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 13.6% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,584 shares of the bank’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 4,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 55.8% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 656,855 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,014,000 after buying an additional 235,156 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $19.81 on Friday. First BanCorp. has a 12-month low of $15.15 and a 12-month high of $22.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group reduced their price target on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.60.

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.