Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Trims Holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC decreased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,750,895 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 207,292 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 1.07% of First BanCorp. worth $37,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 347,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,386,606 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,879,000 after buying an additional 112,432 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,619,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,627,000 after buying an additional 301,443 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,169,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,751,000 after acquiring an additional 16,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 676,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,327,000 after acquiring an additional 19,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 236,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,011,223.10. The trade was a 9.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP stock opened at $19.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.12. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $15.15 and a fifty-two week high of $22.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.94.

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

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.