Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,714 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BPOP. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $95.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.15. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.08 and a 52 week high of $105.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $736.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at $325,569.72. This trade represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.88.

Popular Profile

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.