Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades First BanCorp (FBP) to Hold, Watch for Doral Financial (DRL) Acquisition
October 11, 2011 12:49 PM EDT
Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) to a Hold rating from its previous rating of Sell, but cut its price target from $3.50 to $3.25.
Management has recently announced that the company paid back all of its TARP loan. The firm notes that the company now has a healthy 12.8 percent ratio of Tier 1 Common to Risk-Weighted Assets and a tangible book value of about $6.50 per share.
The firm also highlights that its new price target reflects a lower multiple on its peers. Cantor Fitzgerald also pointed out how stund the firm was to hear that the bank appoint Roberto Herencia as non-executive chairman of its board due to his past record.
An analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald comments, "First BanCorp's re-capitalization should assure its survival, but that is not necessarily a good thing, in our view, for any of the still-too-many survivors in over-banked Puerto Rico. We would view an acquisition of Doral Financial (NYSE: DRL) as a good use of First BanCorp's "excess capital," though it is unclear to us whether a deal could be achieved."
For more ratings news on First BanCorp click here and for the rating history of First BanCorp click here.
Shares of First BanCorp closed at $3.00 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $0.24-$7.50.
