Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Purchases Shares of 199,494 Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new stake in Popular, Inc., acquiring 199,494 shares worth about $24.8 million. The position makes up roughly 0.6% of its portfolio and is its 11th-largest holding.
• Several analysts turned more positive on Popular, with firms including UBS, RBC, BofA, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, and Citigroup raising price targets. The stock now has a consensus Buy rating and an average target price of $168.73.
• Popular reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, with EPS of $3.78 beating estimates, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share payable July 1. Insiders have sold shares recently, though institutional investors still own most of the stock at 87.27%.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 199,494 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $24,841,000. Popular makes up approximately 0.6% of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned about 0.30% of Popular as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Popular by 23.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth about $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 84,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth about $252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. This trade represents a 39.94% 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 30,651 shares of company stock valued at $4,575,135 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $168.73.

Popular Stock Up 1.2%

BPOP opened at $144.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.54 and a 52 week high of $152.95. The business's 50 day moving average is $140.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.85.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million for 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. Equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Popular's payout ratio is 22.16%.

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.

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