Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 240,135 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 94.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,103 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 240,135 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BPOP. Citigroup increased their target price on Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Popular from $201.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.42.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $172.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $162.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.08. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.74 and a 52-week high of $175.12.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.41 million. Popular had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 21.37%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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.