Perpetual Ltd Raises Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 104,087 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Popular were worth $9,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. TCW Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular by 15.2% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,507,000 after acquiring an additional 12,494 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,379 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,317 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Popular by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Popular by 23.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after purchasing an additional 164,270 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 83.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $100.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $105.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.83.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 8.41 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.25.

Popular 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.