Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Makes New $2.73 Million Investment in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec has invested approximately $2.73 million in Popular, Inc. by purchasing 29,500 shares during the first quarter.
• Equity analysts have raised their price targets for Popular, with Citigroup setting a new target of $142.00 and multiple analysts rating the stock as a "Buy" or "Outperform."
• Popular recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.70 to $0.75 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.4% for investors.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 29,500 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,725,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,106 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,046,000 after acquiring an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 164.7% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,731 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 9,788 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,449 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,818 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 105.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Popular by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Popular from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.88.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $124.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 227,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,444. The company has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.68. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $126.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $115.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.34.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $777.38 million. Popular had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 12.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is 27.13%.

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.