Bailard Inc. Decreases Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,500 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,193,684 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $194,630,000 after acquiring an additional 347,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,386,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,879,000 after purchasing an additional 112,432 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,169,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,751,000 after purchasing an additional 16,432 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,097 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,216,000 after purchasing an additional 37,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 2.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 676,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,327,000 after buying an additional 19,290 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FBP. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.40.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $18.75 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $16.24 and a 12 month high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.37% and a return on equity of 18.89%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total value of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,656,606.50. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.