Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 700 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,631 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in First BanCorp. were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,216,000 after acquiring an additional 37,432 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 63.3% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 89,341 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 34,616 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,792,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter valued at $420,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First BanCorp. by 106.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 367,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,779,000 after purchasing an additional 189,148 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FBP shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First BanCorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.40.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 45,797 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.77, for a total transaction of $951,203.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 186,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,874,498.11. This trade represents a 19.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First BanCorp. Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:FBP opened at $19.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.20. First BanCorp. has a 1 year low of $16.24 and a 1 year high of $22.40. 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. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 24.37%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.78%.

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.