Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 719,253 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,336 shares during the period. Popular comprises 0.4% of Verition Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $89,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Popular by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,715,000 after purchasing an additional 17,729 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after buying an additional 84,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the second quarter worth $252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.73.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $160.95 on Monday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.56 and a 12-month high of $161.26. The company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.48.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted 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. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The firm had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

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

Popular 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.