Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $7.57 Million Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Popular, Inc. by 22.9% in the first quarter, ending with 56,390 shares valued at about $7.57 million.
• Popular stock was trading near its 12-month high at $165.65, with the company carrying a market cap of $10.69 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.23.
• The bank reported Q1 earnings of $3.78 per share, topping estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share to be paid July 1.

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 22.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,390 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 10,512 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management owned about 0.09% of Popular worth $7,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $165.65 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.41 and a 12-month high of $167.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $151.28 and a 200-day moving average of $139.07.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Research 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 will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular's payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 over the last ninety days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BPOP. Citigroup upped their price objective on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.73.

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.

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