First BanCorp. (FBP) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 21st

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 21st,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share by the bank on Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16.

First BanCorp. has raised its dividend by an average of 27.3% per year over the last three years. First BanCorp. has a payout ratio of 31.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First BanCorp. to earn $1.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.6%.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FBP opened at $19.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.18. First BanCorp. has a 12 month low of $15.85 and a 12 month high of $22.40.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) last issued its quarterly 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. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 24.94%. The company had revenue of $234.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. First BanCorp.’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First BanCorp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First BanCorp.

In other 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 approximately $5,011,223.10. The trade was a 9.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FBP shares. Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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 lifted their price objective on First BanCorp. from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

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.