Earnest Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 700,346 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,267 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.98% of Popular worth $65,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Popular by 1,719.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,553,000 after buying an additional 35,699 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,042,000 after acquiring an additional 75,164 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Popular by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $128,192,000 after acquiring an additional 39,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.61. 469,306 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,500. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.18. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $106.81. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $760.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Popular's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group lowered their target price on Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.14.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.