Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,852 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,902 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Popular were worth $6,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Popular during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $171.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $174.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.42.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 over the last three months. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.83.

Key Popular News

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark upgraded Popular, Inc. (BPOP) to strong-buy, which can boost investor confidence ahead of earnings and suggests Wall Street sees additional upside from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from Zacks says Popular (BPOP) reports next week and that Wall Street expects earnings growth, but the setup does not look especially favorable for a clear earnings beat, keeping expectations balanced going into the release. Popular (BPOP) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Another brief note says Popular (BPOP) is expected to post earnings on Thursday, reinforcing that the stock is trading on pre-earnings anticipation rather than a new fundamental announcement. Popular (BPOP) Expected to Post Earnings on Thursday

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.