Invesco Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Popular, Inc. by 7.8% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 93,933 shares valued at $8.67 million.
• Popular, Inc. reported strong earnings for the quarter, with an EPS of $3.09, surpassing estimates of $2.60 and a revenue of $800.03 million against $777.38 million estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.75 per share, up from $0.70, which will be paid on October 1st, representing an annual yield of 2.4%.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,933 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,899 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.14% of Popular worth $8,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,034,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Popular by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the bank's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Popular by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,202 shares of the bank's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Popular by 167.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 21,887 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,058,000 after purchasing an additional 13,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 20,728 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,950,000 after acquiring an additional 8,671 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.64. 715,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,283. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.19. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $126.27. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.68.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.49. Popular had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 16.49%.The firm had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.38 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Popular's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.88.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.