Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Sells 16,797 Shares of First BanCorp. $FBP

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its stake in First BanCorp. by 60.8%, selling 16,797 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 10,832 shares valued at $208,000.
• Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target for First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $25.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• First BanCorp. reported earnings of $0.50 per share, exceeding estimates, with a quarterly dividend of $0.18 set to be paid on September 12th.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lowered its stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,832 shares of the bank's stock after selling 16,797 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,925,748 shares of the bank's stock valued at $132,767,000 after purchasing an additional 201,674 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,770,605 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,113,000 after purchasing an additional 85,017 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,622,843 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,759,000 after purchasing an additional 248,272 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,761,893 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,775,000 after purchasing an additional 24,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,671,029 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,064,000 after purchasing an additional 50,091 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First BanCorp. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.00.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FBP traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.35. 1,100,547 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,188,405. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. First BanCorp. has a one year low of $16.40 and a one year high of $22.50.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $246.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.73 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 17.54% and a net margin of 24.71%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. First BanCorp.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First BanCorp.

In other news, CEO Aurelio Aleman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.30, for a total transaction of $1,115,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,059,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,627,898.10. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About First BanCorp.

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.