Voya Investment Management LLC Buys 8,671 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 71.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,728 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,671 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Popular by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $81,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $1,635,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Popular by 304.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,042,000 after buying an additional 75,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 7.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $99.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BPOP shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.