Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stake in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,479 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,919 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Popular by 18.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,082,018 shares of the bank’s stock worth $119,249,000 after acquiring an additional 132,826 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Popular by 34.3% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,290,000 after acquiring an additional 244,108 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular during the second quarter valued at $93,578,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BPOP. Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Popular in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. 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, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.09.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $134.17 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.03. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $149.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly 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. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.The business had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.