Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 35,000 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 63.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FBP. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 347,271 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,386,606 shares of the bank's stock worth $92,879,000 after acquiring an additional 112,432 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First BanCorp. by 1.4% in 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 last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in First BanCorp. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 676,749 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,327,000 after purchasing an additional 19,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in First BanCorp. by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 489,495 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,953,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Hovde Group cut their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.20.

Insider Activity

In other First BanCorp. news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 236,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,011,223.10. This represents a 9.56 % 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.59. 1,596,398 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 904,939. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.16. First BanCorp. has a twelve month low of $15.35 and a twelve month high of $22.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $234.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.51 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 24.94%. The company's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. First BanCorp.'s payout ratio is currently 35.36%.

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.