Royce & Associates LP Cuts Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Popular, Inc. by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,000 shares and leaving it with 108,932 shares worth about $13.6 million.
• Several analysts remain upbeat on BPOP, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Buy rating and average target of $168.73.
• Popular reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS expectations at $3.78 per share, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share payable July 1.

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 108,932 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.16% of Popular worth $13,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 198.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Popular by 117.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 84.2% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Popular from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Popular Trading Down 1.0%

BPOP stock opened at $150.63 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.00 and a twelve month high of $152.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.20.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Popular 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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