Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) Stock Price

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on FBP. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.80.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP opened at $20.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.82. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $15.15 and a 52 week high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 24.94%. The business had revenue of $234.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 236,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,011,223.10. This represents a 9.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First BanCorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBP. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 209,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 61,701 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in First BanCorp. by 131.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 34,413 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First BanCorp. during the second quarter worth about $810,000. Westover Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in First BanCorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $616,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in First BanCorp. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

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.