Monument Capital Management Purchases New Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Monument Capital Management initiated a position in Popular, purchasing 25,435 shares worth approximately $3.95 million during the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 87.27% of the bank.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Popular receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $187.42; several firms recently raised their targets.
• Popular reported quarterly EPS of $4.35, beating estimates by $0.63, and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.90 per share, equating to a 2.3% annualized yield.

Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 25,435 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,954,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BPOP. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Popular by 30.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 321 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Popular by 5.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,458 shares of the bank's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Popular by 1.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 7,262 shares of the bank's stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Severin Investments LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 1.9% in the first quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 4,799 shares of the bank's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.36, for a total value 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 trade represents a 34.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Javier D. Ferrer sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.43, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 53,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,392,259. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Popular from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research raised Popular from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Popular from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.42.

Popular Stock Up 0.2%

BPOP stock opened at $155.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.74 and a 52 week high of $179.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.67.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $846.92 million during 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 business earned $3.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This is a positive change from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Popular's payout ratio is currently 24.32%.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc NASDAQ: BPOP is a financial services company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1893, the company provides banking and related financial services primarily through Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, its principal subsidiary, and serves individuals, businesses and institutions.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial deposit accounts, personal and business loans, residential mortgages, credit cards, auto financing, investment and wealth-management services, insurance-related offerings and electronic banking solutions.

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