First BanCorp. $FBP Shares Acquired by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in First BanCorp. by 1.4%, acquiring an additional 24,925 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 1,761,893 shares valued at approximately $33.8 million.
• First BanCorp. reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.47, with a net margin of 24.71% and a revenue of $246.81 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with a scheduled payment date on September 12th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,761,893 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 24,925 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 1.08% of First BanCorp. worth $33,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FBP. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 103.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in First BanCorp. by 919.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 806.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the bank's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the 1st quarter worth about $96,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

FBP stock traded up $0.0450 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.3850. 844,537 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,216,962. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.96. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $16.40 and a 52 week high of $22.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $246.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.73 million. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.71% and a return on equity of 17.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First BanCorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

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.