Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Has $514,000 Stock Holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,629 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,976 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in First BanCorp. by 267.2% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 705,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,107,000 after purchasing an additional 513,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 3.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter valued at $4,792,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 367,445 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,779,000 after acquiring an additional 189,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in First BanCorp. by 124.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 322,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 178,660 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.40.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of FBP opened at $19.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.91. First BanCorp. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 39.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total transaction of $214,160.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.