Rock Point Advisors LLC Sells 7,066 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Rock Point Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,419 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,066 shares during the quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $474,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Popular by 434.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,198,000 after buying an additional 39,668 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Popular by 69.2% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 9,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Popular by 36.6% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,748,000 after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $574,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $136.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.92. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $149.31.

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

Popular Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $481,002.75. The trade was a 29.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

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.