4,520 Shares in Popular, Inc. $BPOP Acquired by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,520 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $209,115,000 after acquiring an additional 464,820 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Popular by 18.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $147,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Popular by 14.0% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,082,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,249,000 after purchasing an additional 132,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 34.3% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,290,000 after purchasing an additional 244,108 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Trading Down 5.0%

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $135.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.57. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $806.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Popular in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.