Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 888,665 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 51,375 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $18,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First BanCorp. by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,414,701 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $393,154,000 after purchasing an additional 448,845 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in 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. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the first quarter valued at approximately $16,719,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 9.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 676,817 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,871,000 after buying an additional 60,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.1% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 657,459 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,025,000 after buying an additional 25,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other First BanCorp. news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 7,612 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $164,799.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,943. The trade was a 7.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction 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 represents a 9.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,556 shares of company stock valued at $736,365. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FBP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First BanCorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

FBP stock opened at $20.92 on Friday. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $14.72 and a 52 week high of $22.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.