Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 248,335 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,685,588 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 248,335 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.64% of First BanCorp. worth $49,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FBP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,462,121 shares of the bank's stock valued at $398,981,000 after acquiring an additional 63,304 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,724,074 shares of the bank's stock worth $125,001,000 after buying an additional 78,129 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,871,338 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460,789 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,462,862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $82,981,000 after buying an additional 76,256 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,275,000. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

FBP stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $20.35. The company had a trading volume of 73,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,971. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. First BanCorp. has a 1 year low of $16.40 and a 1 year high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $248.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. First BanCorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total transaction of $214,160.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares in the company, valued at $3,656,606.50. This trade represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FBP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.80.

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.