Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires New Holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,890 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 394.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FBP. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.40.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $18.54 on Friday. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $16.24 and a 12 month high of $22.40. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.15. 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 24.37% and a return on equity of 18.89%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. This is a positive change from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.78%.

About First BanCorp.

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.