Seven Eight Capital LP Invests $297,000 in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 16,937 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FBP. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 239.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 96,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 67,844 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,860,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,610,000 after purchasing an additional 110,797 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 56,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in First BanCorp. by 2,172.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,039,557 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,101,000 after purchasing an additional 993,819 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carlos Power sold 5,277 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $95,038.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 255,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,596,800.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Gonzalez Orlando Berges sold 75,000 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.92, for a total value of $1,344,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 277,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,198.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carlos Power sold 5,277 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $95,038.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 255,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,596,800.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

NYSE:FBP opened at $21.36 on Thursday. First BanCorp. has a 52 week low of $12.72 and a 52 week high of $22.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.39.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 25.91%. The firm had revenue of $304.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $230.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First BanCorp. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of First BanCorp. in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

First BanCorp. Company 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.