Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 10,840 Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Popular, Inc., buying 10,840 shares valued at about $1.35 million.
• Popular has drawn broad institutional interest, with several funds increasing holdings and 87.27% of the stock now owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish: Popular has a Buy consensus rating with a consensus price target of $168.73, while the stock was last seen around $149.70.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 10,840 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Popular by 140.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,737,000 after acquiring an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,043 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,620,000 after purchasing an additional 23,584 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Popular by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 77,807 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,180 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BPOP. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded Popular from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Popular Stock Down 0.6%

BPOP stock opened at $149.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.00 and a fifty-two week high of $152.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $143.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.44.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular's dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last three months. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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