Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 13,974 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,000.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,167,000 after purchasing an additional 37,424 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 56.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after buying an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,057,000 after buying an additional 64,778 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Popular by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,966,000 after buying an additional 88,765 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter worth $104,955,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.73.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Popular Trading Up 2.2%
Shares of BPOP opened at $151.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.56 and a 12-month high of $152.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $144.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.90.
Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.
Popular Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.
Popular Profile
Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.
The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.
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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BPOP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP – Free Report).
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