Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 67,452 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 83.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 148,652 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 67,452 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Popular were worth $18,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in Popular by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC now owns 2,997 shares of the bank’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the bank’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $148.53 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.00 and a 52-week high of $152.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $143.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.55. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BPOP. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.