Invenomic Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Invenomic Capital Management LP lessened its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,817 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 65,151 shares during the quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $14,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Popular by 2,752.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 18.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BPOP. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $142.00 target price on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $156.55.

Popular Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Popular stock opened at $130.38 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $134.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.50. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $149.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.