VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires 18,300 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 203.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,300 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Popular were worth $3,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 5.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 34,101 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,150,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter valued at $84,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Popular by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after acquiring an additional 17,729 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 247.1% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 36,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 25,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 52.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,432,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,722,000 after acquiring an additional 495,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Popular in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.78.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $124.52 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $129.32. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $117.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.02.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $720.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $803.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total value of $2,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 193,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,907,770. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total value of $114,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $299,043.36. This trade represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.