Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 86,651 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its stake in Popular, Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 86,651 shares and ending with 592,252 shares valued at about $73.7 million.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on BPOP, with an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73 after several firms raised targets or upgraded the stock.
• Popular reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $3.78 EPS versus $3.30 expected, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, implying a 2.0% yield.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 592,252 shares of the bank's stock after selling 86,651 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.89% of Popular worth $73,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Popular by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Popular by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 682 shares of the bank's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America raised Popular from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Hovde Group upped their target price on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered 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 given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $148.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $139.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $152.95.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 20.10%.The company had revenue of $822.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Popular's payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% 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. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,651 shares of company stock valued at $4,575,135. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BPOP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.