Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 69,822 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 751,059 shares of the bank's stock after selling 69,822 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.46% of First BanCorp. worth $13,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in First BanCorp. by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 98,810 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,837,000 after buying an additional 22,012 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in First BanCorp. by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,097 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,216,000 after buying an additional 37,432 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,792,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in First BanCorp. by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 61,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 21,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FBP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on 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 increased their price target on First BanCorp. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First BanCorp. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.80.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of FBP stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 938,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,099,231. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $16.40 and a fifty-two week high of $22.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $248.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.08 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 24.37%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. First BanCorp.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.13%.

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.