Invesco Ltd. Sells 13,252 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 101,832 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,252 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.14% of Popular worth $9,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 1,719.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 35,699 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Trading Down 0.8 %

Popular stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $95.37. 39,993 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,614. The company has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.21.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Popular's payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $125.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group lowered their price target on Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.14.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.