Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Popular, Inc. by 24.1% in the first quarter, adding 8,902 shares to bring its total to 45,852 shares valued at about $6.15 million.
• Popular recently reported strong quarterly earnings of $3.78 per share, beating analyst estimates of $3.30, while revenue came in below expectations. The company also paid a $0.75 quarterly dividend, equal to a 1.7% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Benchmark upgraded Popular to strong-buy, and other firms raised price targets, leaving the stock with a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $177.83.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,852 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 8,902 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Popular worth $6,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,620,000 after buying an additional 23,584 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank's stock worth $23,369,000 after acquiring an additional 17,148 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 12,382.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 256,446 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $2,038,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Popular by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 540,646 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,321,000 after acquiring an additional 118,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $171.75 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.74 and a fifty-two week high of $174.69. The firm's fifty day moving average is $158.17 and its 200 day moving average is $144.42. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million during 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 prior year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Popular's dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

More Popular News

Here are the key news stories impacting Popular this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark upgraded Popular, Inc. (BPOP) to strong-buy, which can boost investor confidence ahead of earnings and suggests Wall Street sees additional upside from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage from Zacks says Popular (BPOP) reports next week and that Wall Street expects earnings growth, but the setup does not look especially favorable for a clear earnings beat, keeping expectations balanced going into the release. Popular (BPOP) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Another brief note says Popular (BPOP) is expected to post earnings on Thursday, reinforcing that the stock is trading on pre-earnings anticipation rather than a new fundamental announcement. Popular (BPOP) Expected to Post Earnings on Thursday

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Benchmark started coverage on Popular in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $201.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Popular from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $177.83.

Popular Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BPOP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.