AXQ Capital LP Purchases New Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,291 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $191,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FBP. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 437,437 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,132,000 after buying an additional 20,256 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,724,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,001,000 after purchasing an additional 78,129 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter worth $2,804,000. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,167,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 267.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 705,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,107,000 after purchasing an additional 513,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of FBP stock opened at $19.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.12. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $22.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First BanCorp. news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total transaction of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,656,606.50. This represents 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. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on FBP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.40.

First BanCorp. Company 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.