Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 842,875 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $104,955,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Popular by 140.1% during the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Popular by 68.6% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,043 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Popular by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,620,000 after purchasing an additional 23,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Popular by 13.4% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $153.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $145.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.76. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $102.56 and a one year high of $153.99.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.