The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 40,243 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 357,858 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 40,243 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Popular were worth $33,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Popular in the first quarter worth $354,000. Bayview Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 146.1% during the first quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 12,635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.5% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 725,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,978,000 after buying an additional 24,759 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 87.6% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 37,104 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,427,000 after buying an additional 17,329 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BPOP. Citigroup raised their price target on Popular from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.88.

Popular Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Popular stock opened at $125.64 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.34. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.68. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $126.27.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.38 million. Popular had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 12.48%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 27.13%.

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.