Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 110,531 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 135.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,012 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 110,531 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of First BanCorp. worth $4,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,414,701 shares of the bank's stock valued at $393,154,000 after buying an additional 448,845 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,619,842 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,627,000 after acquiring an additional 301,443 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 55.8% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 656,855 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,014,000 after acquiring an additional 235,156 shares in the last quarter. X Square Capital LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 351,170 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,423,000 after acquiring an additional 109,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 209,088 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,824,000 after acquiring an additional 61,701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total value of $529,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 236,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,011,223.10. This trade represents a 9.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 1,944 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total transaction of $41,815.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,881,608.76. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,556 shares of company stock worth $736,365 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

First BanCorp. Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FBP traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.30. 1,510,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,069,307. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.65. 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. has a 1-year low of $14.72 and a 1-year high of $22.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.11.

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

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. First BanCorp.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price 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 price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First BanCorp. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.40.

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.