Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Moody Aldrich Partners purchased 36,744 Popular shares worth approximately $5.7 million, making the stock 1.1% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 87.27% of Popular.
• Analysts maintain a largely positive outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $186.83, despite some target adjustments and one downgrade to “Hold.”
• Popular reported quarterly EPS of $4.21, beating expectations of $3.95, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, equivalent to a 2.3% annualized yield. Insiders, however, sold 47,100 shares worth $8.26 million over the past 90 days.

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,744 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $5,712,000. Popular comprises approximately 1.1% of Moody Aldrich Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Popular as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Popular by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,004,676 shares of the bank's stock valued at $164,948,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Popular by 24.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 556,630 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,684,000 after acquiring an additional 110,887 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Popular by 8.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,486,000 after acquiring an additional 35,226 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Popular during the second quarter worth about $54,916,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Popular by 100.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 272,800 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,602,000 after acquiring an additional 136,984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Popular from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $186.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Rodriguez sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $101,274.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $420,624.68. The trade was a 19.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lidio Soriano sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $523,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 107,320 shares in the company, valued at $18,727,340. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,100 shares of company stock worth $8,263,884 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $157.88 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $108.74 and a twelve month high of $179.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $162.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $874.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.43 million. Popular had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 22.36%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Popular's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.68%.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc NASDAQ: BPOP is a financial services company headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its principal subsidiary, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, provides banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, credit cards and electronic banking services.

The company also offers investment, brokerage, insurance and wealth management services through specialized subsidiaries and affiliated businesses.

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