Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors acquired 6,498 shares of Popular valued at approximately $1.07 million, while institutional investors overall own 87.27% of the stock.
• Popular reported quarterly EPS of $4.35, beating estimates of $3.72, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.90 per share, representing a 2.1% annual yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with the stock receiving an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $186.92; however, company executives recently sold shares totaling about $9.29 million.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,498 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $780,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,916,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,914,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Popular by 108.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 149,094 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,478,000 after purchasing an additional 77,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Popular by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,240 shares of the bank's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $169.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.52. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $179.24.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.41 million. Popular had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 21.37%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This is a boost from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Popular's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BPOP. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $198.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Popular from $201.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total transaction of $1,499,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,824,052.68. This represents a 34.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Javier D. Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total transaction of $6,140,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,925,135.54. The trade was a 26.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,961 shares of company stock worth $9,290,985 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Popular

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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