Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 55,414 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $5,119,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.08% of Popular at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Popular by 589.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 821 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Popular by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of Popular stock traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $103.81. 527,595 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 523,846. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $97.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.86. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $107.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Popular's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,382 shares in the company, valued at $2,851,561.48. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,604 shares in the company, valued at $376,365.72. This represents a 12.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

About Popular

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.