Royce & Associates LP Lowers Stake in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Royce & Associates LP lessened its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,932 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 20,200 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.18% of Popular worth $15,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the second quarter worth $93,578,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $209,115,000 after acquiring an additional 464,820 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,990,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Popular by 9,769.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after acquiring an additional 265,728 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in Popular by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,290,000 after acquiring an additional 244,108 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Trading Up 2.0%

Popular stock opened at $138.08 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.79. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 target price on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.