Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 431,595 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 30,506 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Popular were worth $38,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Popular by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $313,240,000 after acquiring an additional 216,855 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,218,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,781,000 after purchasing an additional 113,838 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Popular by 23.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,129,000 after purchasing an additional 164,270 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Popular by 52.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 835,311 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,867,000 after purchasing an additional 286,450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP stock opened at $98.58 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.78. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. Popular had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 5,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.60, for a total transaction of $577,499.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,920,387.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group raised their target price on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Popular from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Monday, August 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.22.

Popular Company 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.