Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,071 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 98,316 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $4,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth $104,955,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after acquiring an additional 301,494 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 12,382.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 256,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,290,000 after acquiring an additional 244,108 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $153.66 on Tuesday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.56 and a 1 year high of $155.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $146.23 and its 200 day moving average is $135.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BPOP. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

About Popular

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.