Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 62,879 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 179.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,862 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 62,879 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.06% of First BanCorp. worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FBP. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,580 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 3,681 shares of the bank's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,935 shares of the bank's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total value of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,656,606.50. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued 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. Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:FBP traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.33. 915,249 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,628. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. First BanCorp. has a 12-month low of $16.40 and a 12-month high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $248.13 million for 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 business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

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

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.