SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Popular, Inc. by 78.6% in the first quarter, selling 203,237 shares and leaving it with 55,280 shares worth about $7.4 million.
• Popular reported strong first-quarter earnings of $3.78 per share, beating analyst estimates, even though revenue came in below expectations.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, payable July 1, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Buy” with a target price of $171.18.

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 78.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,280 shares of the bank's stock after selling 203,237 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.09% of Popular worth $7,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Popular during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $165.79 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $169.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The business had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular's payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Popular from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.18.

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.

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.