Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 4,300 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC has reduced its stake in Popular, Inc. by 26.4%, selling 4,300 shares to hold 12,000 shares valued at approximately $1.1 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Popular, with Voya Investment Management boosting their stake by 71.9% during the last quarter.
• Popular, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.75 per share, reflecting a growth from the previous dividend of $0.70, with a dividend yield of 2.4%.

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 4,300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Popular were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,847 shares of the bank's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Popular by 0.3% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 62,660 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,788,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Popular by 3.4% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Popular by 4.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its position in shares of Popular by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,200 shares of the bank's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Hovde Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $128.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total value of $2,240,584.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,773 shares in the company, valued at $3,083,495.31. This trade represents a 42.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ BPOP traded down $0.44 on Thursday, reaching $125.73. The company had a trading volume of 290,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,684. The company's fifty day moving average is $116.59 and its 200-day moving average is $103.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $126.99.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $800.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.38 million. Popular had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 16.49%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

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.