4,336 Shares in Popular, Inc. $BPOP Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,336 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth $653,000. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,660,000. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 134.3% during the third quarter. Burney Co. now owns 48,557 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,167,000 after purchasing an additional 27,837 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Popular by 40.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 41,270 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 11,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Popular by 47.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 188,960 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,818,000 after purchasing an additional 60,701 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BPOP shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 target price on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.36.

Popular News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded BPOP from Neutral to Buy and set a $156 price target, signaling street confidence in further upside from current levels. Bank of America Upgrade (Finviz)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks published a piece framing Popular as a strong value stock, reinforcing the narrative that the shares trade at attractive multiples (low P/E and PEG) relative to earnings growth expectations. Zacks: Here’s Why Popular is a Strong Value Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage continues to highlight Popular’s January quarter beat (EPS and revenue slightly above estimates), solid margins and a healthy dividend — all fundamentals that support higher valuations and the recent cluster of upward price targets. MarketBeat: Popular stock overview & analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Popular’s Q4 earnings call — including the top analyst questions — is providing more context on management’s outlook and capital deployment priorities; useful for investors but not an immediate catalyst on its own. Yahoo: 5 Most Interesting Analyst Questions From Popular’s Q4 Call
• Negative Sentiment: Director Alejandro Ballester sold 2,360 shares (around $312.7k at reported prices), a publicly disclosed insider sale that some investors may view as a modest red flag on insider conviction despite his large remaining holding. InsiderTrades: Insider selling alert

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of Popular 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 sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $299,043.36. The trade was a 27.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $312,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,360 shares of company stock worth $3,265,040. Company insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $141.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $124.67 and a 200-day moving average of $121.08. The company has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $141.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $815.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.87%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Popular’s payout ratio is 24.35%.

About Popular

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.