Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,222,266 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 59,182 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $432,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 17,729 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 60.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Popular during the first quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the second quarter valued at $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of Popular stock opened at $172.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $158.68 and its 200 day moving average is $144.87. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $174.69.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Popular from $172.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $201.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

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.