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

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

First BanCorp. Trading Up 3.2 %

FBP stock opened at $17.71 on Thursday. First BanCorp. has a 1-year low of $10.18 and a 1-year high of $17.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, 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.

First BanCorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from First BanCorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. First BanCorp.’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First BanCorp. news, 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 value of $164,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,405.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Aurelio Aleman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.17, for a total transaction of $858,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,126,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,339,000.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $164,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,055 shares in the company, valued at $824,405.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,600 shares of company stock worth $2,278,784 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.