Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Position Cut by TCW Group Inc.

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. has reduced its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 9.2%, now holding approximately $6.87 million worth of shares.
• Analysts have varied opinions on BPOP, with Barclays raising its price target to $140, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a "hold" rating.
• Popular, Inc. reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.09, exceeding estimates by $0.49, and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share.

TCW Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,463 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,568 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Popular worth $6,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 10.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,106 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,046,000 after buying an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Popular by 164.7% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,731 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 9,788 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Popular by 50.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,449 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,818 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Popular by 105.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular by 4.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $376,365.72. This trade represents a 12.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Popular from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.88.

Popular Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of BPOP stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $114.83. 137,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,653. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.18 and a 200 day moving average of $100.53. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $118.54.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.38 million. Popular had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 12.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.13%.

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.