Cynosure Group LLC Invests $374,000 in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,649 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 57,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in First BanCorp. by 8.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in First BanCorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FCG Investment Co grew its position in First BanCorp. by 4.8% in the second quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 30,111 shares of the bank’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 160,254 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FBP. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on First BanCorp. from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group cut their price objective on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

First BanCorp. Stock Down 0.7 %

First BanCorp. stock opened at $21.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.74. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.72 and a fifty-two week high of $22.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $234.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.51 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 24.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 35.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 25,000 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.19, for a total transaction of $529,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 236,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,011,223.10. This trade represents a 9.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 1,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.51, for a total value of $41,815.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,881,608.76. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.