Versor Investments LP Sells 8,500 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Versor Investments LP reduced its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 51.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,154 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Popular in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,578,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $209,115,000 after purchasing an additional 464,820 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Popular by 9,769.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after buying an additional 265,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Popular by 363.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 228,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,131,000 after buying an additional 178,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 target price on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $155.73.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $147.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $148.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $127.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.91.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $815.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,907,770. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,360 shares of company stock worth $3,265,040. Corporate insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

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.