Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Has $33.13 Million Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 266,042 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,676 shares during the quarter. Popular makes up approximately 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Popular were worth $33,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Popular during the 4th quarter worth $104,955,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Popular by 2,752.6% during the 3rd 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. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 12,382.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,191,000 after buying an additional 256,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth $29,115,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $595,425.60. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $160.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.56 and a 52 week high of $161.26.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Popular Company 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.