Jacobs Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Jacobs Asset Management LLC raised its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 44.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 137,500 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Popular accounts for 7.8% of Jacobs Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Jacobs Asset Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Popular worth $12,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Popular by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,446,000 after acquiring an additional 515,798 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,496,000 after purchasing an additional 459,231 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Popular by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,373,000 after purchasing an additional 201,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 723,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,041,000 after purchasing an additional 175,327 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Popular currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.14.

Popular Trading Down 0.2 %

BPOP opened at $100.31 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $106.81. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $90.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.19. The company has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $760.45 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.