Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Russell Investments increased its stake in Popular by 3.9% to 213,721 shares (about $27.15M), and other large managers including AQR, MFS and LSV also raised positions, leaving institutional ownership at 87.27%.
• Two directors sold stock recently—Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares at $140.85 and Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares at $132.50—reducing insider holdings to 2.09%.
• Popular topped quarterly EPS estimates ($3.38 vs. $3.02), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 (annualized $3.00, yield 2.3%), and holds a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $156.55.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 213,721 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 8,062 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.32% of Popular worth $27,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank's stock worth $209,115,000 after purchasing an additional 464,820 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $225,990,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Popular by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,901 shares of the bank's stock worth $147,471,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in Popular by 14.0% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,082,018 shares of the bank's stock worth $119,249,000 after buying an additional 132,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 34.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,290,000 after acquiring an additional 244,108 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Up 1.6%

BPOP stock opened at $130.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.43. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $811.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular's payout ratio is currently 24.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $156.55.

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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