Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires New Stake in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,008 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BPOP. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 262.9% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in Popular during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Popular by 2,158.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Popular by 112.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Popular by 3,925.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 483 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on Popular from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.00.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $128.09 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $131.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $120.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.63. The company has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 17.63%.The business had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $803.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,907,770. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,604 shares in the company, valued at $299,043.36. This trade represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.