Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $5.92 Million in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd opened a new position in Popular, Inc., buying 44,115 shares worth about $5.92 million in the first quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive: multiple firms raised their price targets, and Popular now has a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of $171.18.
• Popular reported Q1 EPS of $3.78, beating estimates, and recently paid a $0.75 quarterly dividend that annualizes to a 1.8% yield.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 44,115 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $5,919,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned about 0.07% of Popular at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Popular by 23.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,715,000 after purchasing an additional 17,729 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter worth approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 84,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BPOP. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Popular from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.18.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $167.26 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $154.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.74 and a fifty-two week high of $170.02.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its 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 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 11,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

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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