Boston Partners Purchases New Stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Feb 15th, 2023

Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,024 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in First BanCorp. by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,679,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,862 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,254,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,651,000 after purchasing an additional 968,081 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in First BanCorp. in the 1st quarter worth about $10,473,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 389.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 904,256 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,864,000 after buying an additional 719,644 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 60.9% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,795,398 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,178,000 after buying an additional 679,333 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $14.17 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.32 and a 200-day moving average of $14.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $11.94 and a 12 month high of $16.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 31.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of First BanCorp. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th.

About First BanCorp.

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First BanCorp (Puerto Rico) is a holding company, which engages in the provision of personal, commercial, and corporate banking services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Mortgage Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations.