Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 140.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,354 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Popular worth $5,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular in the 2nd quarter worth $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Popular by 2,752.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 buying an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 9,769.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,586,000 after buying an additional 265,728 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $131.27 on Tuesday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $149.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.54. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BPOP. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 target price on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler began coverage on Popular in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $156.55.

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.