First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 25.82%. The business had revenue of $302.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FBP traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 177,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,114,644. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $10.18 and a 1-year high of $17.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. First BanCorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First BanCorp. from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on First BanCorp. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $998,784.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,708,007.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other First BanCorp. news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total value of $998,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,708,007.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nayda Rivera sold 15,000 shares of First BanCorp. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.12, for a total value of $256,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 246,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,441.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,600 shares of company stock valued at $2,278,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% 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.