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

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $302.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.19 million. First BanCorp. had a net margin of 26.19% and a return on equity of 21.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS.

First BanCorp. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FBP traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.34. The stock had a trading volume of 231,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,813. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. First BanCorp. has a fifty-two week low of $10.18 and a fifty-two week high of $17.70.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $998,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,708,007.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael Mcdonald sold 57,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.34, for a total transaction of $998,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,708,007.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Crespo Luz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.47, for a total transaction of $164,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,405.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,600 shares of company stock worth $2,278,784 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First BanCorp. from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of First BanCorp. from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

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.